Caulfield Schweppes Thousand Guineas (Group 1)

HAVING tuned up for her 1000 Guineas tilt with a second placing in the Listed Desirable Stakes on Melbourne Cup day, Joliestar parlayed that result into a Group 1 victory at Caulfield on Saturday.

Ridden by James McDonald for Chris Waller, the Zoustar filly was pushed out from gate one to hold her spot in the 16-horse field, taking up a position on the rail, one back from the front.

An easing tempo mid-race played the advantage to the leaders as Joliestar had only to navigate around the weakening leader before kicking clear to post a comfortable two-length victory over the Brave Smash filly Kimochi and the Exosphere filly Skybird.

“She’s had a feeling about her that her whole preparation that she has kept improving and improving but she hasn’t been winning,” said McDonald after the A$1.5 million Classic.

Lot of luck

“She hasn’t had a lot of luck so I thought today from barrier one she was going to get every chance. I wish the Melbourne Cup was that easy.”

Joliestar was a $950,000 buy for Cambridge Stud’s Brendan and Jo Lindsay from the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, completing the New Zealand trifecta of owner, trainer and jockey.

“We’ve got Brendan (Lindsay) here today to collect the trophy,” added McDonald.

“He told me a funny story before I got legged on. He said ‘I’ve booked two tickets’. I said ‘what, to take me home?’, he said no, ‘for the trophy’. He must have known I had such a really good feeling about her that she was building towards something.”

Neds Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Group 1)

HAVING dealt with the disappointment of losing his Melbourne Cup contenders Lunar Flare and Nonconformist through injury, Grahame Begg was due a change of luck with the tide turning at Caulfield on Saturday.

Saddling up Magic Time in the Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes over 1,400 metres, the race turned into an ‘easy watch’ for Begg as his four-year-old Hellbent filly dominated the closing stages to win by a length from the I Am Invincible mare I Am Me with Strait Acer, by Headwater, taking third.

“I told Mick Dee to be positive out of the gates, but get cover, don’t work up the hill and give her the opportunity to round her race off and she certainly did that,” said Begg.

“She’s all heart. The last 300 metres was an easy watch when she was powering away.” Magic Time has now won five from eight for breeders Milburn Creek. After passing-in on a reserve of A$150,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale Milburn Creek gave the filly to Begg who had already won them a pair of Group 1s with the Dubawi mare Secret Admirer a decade earlier.

Additionally, for Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible stallion Hellbent, Magic Time, a daughter from his first crop, becomes Hellbent’s first Group 1 winner.

Ridden by Michael Dee, Magic Time was also the third winner of Dee’s four for the day.

“I thought for a stage I would be able to slot in with cover, but I couldn’t, so all that I could do then is keep her comfortable and in a nice rhythm and keep her as comfortable as possible, get around the bend before I asked her for the ultimate question and she just absolutely took off,” said Dee.

Newcastle

COAL Crusher had to be the omen bet for the A$1 million Newcastle Herald Hunter over 1,300 metres at Newcastle on Saturday, with Newcastle being the home of Australia’s largest coal export port having shipped off 136 million tonnes of coal in 2022.

Trained by Joe Pride, the Turffontein gelding was coming off a fourth placing in the $3 million Giga Kick two weeks earlier and was not surprisingly a popular pick, sitting on the second line in the 12-horse field.

“I didn’t think he needed to go quite that fast, but I’m not going to criticise a winning ride,” said Pride, after Tyler Schiller had won by a length on Coal Crusher consigning the I Am Invincible gelding King Of Sparta to second ahead of the So You Think gelding Rocketing By.

“He really busted them up and maybe that’s what beat the opposition because he got them out of their comfort zone. He’s come back good this preparation, he’s been knocking on the door in harder races.”

“I train this horse for the Murphy family. Chris Murphy died about 12 months ago; he was the manager of INXS and his family race it with my family and this is a very special moment for all of us,” added Pride who reflected on his year to date.

“It’s been fantastic, three Group 1s and an Everest, a Shorts and a Premiere, now this. This is up there with the best of the moments I’ve got to be honest with you.”

New Zealand

Barneswood Farm 51st New Zealand 1000

Guineas (Group 1)

SIXTEENTH at the halfway mark of the New Zealand 1000 Guineas didn’t look like the best place to be for Molly Bloom.

The picture hadn’t improved on the final bend with the Lance O’Sullivan and Andrew Scott-trained filly being hurried along by Thurles-born Joe Doyle as he plotted the widest path on the Ace High filly.

Relishing the challenge, Molly Bloom only got stronger the further the straight went. Sweeping to the front, she won the Group 1 1000 Guineas by a length, defeating the Impending filly Impendabelle with Tulsi, by The Autumn Sun claiming third.

“I just kept getting chopped back,” said Doyle. “We had to go to Plan B, then Plan C, then Plan D. Luckily enough, this filly was good enough to overcome all that.

Much faith

“It’s a credit to Lance and Andrew. They’ve had so much faith in this filly all the way through, and today has shown that they were dead right.”

Purchased for NZ$150,00, Molly Bloom, from the first season of Victoria Derby and Spring Champion Stakes winner Ace High, becomes her sire’s first Group 1 winner, vindicating the faith Rich Hill Stud had in purchasing the colt.

Very keen

“I got on the phone and rang around and the people I spoke to were very keen,” said Rich Hill’s John Thompson.

“A number of New Zealand studs jumped in like The Oaks, Mapperley Stud, Gordon Cunningham (Curraghmore), Mark Baker (Hallmark Stud) and Graeme Hunt as well. The fact that he was a dual Group 1-winning son of High Chaparral and how well that blood has done in New Zealand enabled us to get the deal over the line.”