Railway Stakes (Group 1)

GROUP 1 racing returned to Perth as their Summer carnival got underway on Saturday with the running of the Railway Stakes over 1,600 metres at Ascot.

The A$1.5 million event proved a seminal moment for 82-year-old trainer Colin Webster as he led in his first Group 1 winner when Trix Of Trade, by the British stallion Trade Fair, confirmed favouritism with a two-length win over Comfort Me and Startrade.

“It’s unbelievable, my first Group 1. He’s a magnificent horse, and Troy (Turner) rides him to perfection,” said Webster. “I’m very proud of him. Old Bill and Pat Robertson came to the races today. They don’t come often because of their age, and they are over the moon. We knew that if we had him fresh enough, he would win. That is why I did not run him last week, I didn’t want to take the edge off him. We aimed at this race a long time ago and we thought he could win it.”

While forever linked with Bart Cummings as the great trainer’s 11th Melbourne Cup winner, Rogan Josh was originally trained by Colin Webster who won 10 races with the Old Spice gelding before he went to Cummings in 1999.

Bought by Wendy Green as a yearling for $13,000, Green famously drove a 7,500km round trip from Darwin to Melbourne and back again, for Rogan Josh’s 1999 victory, her celebratory stops with The Cup on her return leg providing the inspiration for the Melbourne Cup Tour, which this year, completed it’s 20th tour. Having made the grand age of 29 years-old, Rogan Josh was humanely euthanised following colic-related complications earlier this year at Living Legends.

AS Saturday racing took a break from metropolitan Sydney, Kembla Grange was in the spotlight hosting The Gong, colloquially an abbreviated term for the rural city of Wollongong to which Kembla Grange is a suburb of.

The Proisir gelding Riodini had not quite reached the heights of his 2021 that saw him runner-up in the Group 1 George Main Stakes, nevertheless he was sent out a $6.50 favourite in the A$1 million event over 1,600 metres.

Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Riodini appreciated the step down from Group racing to defeat the Dundeel mare Hope In Your Heart with the Invincible Spirit horse Old Flame in third.

“It was a real target race, third-up over the mile, and he got in really well at the weights,” said jockey Tim Clark. “It’s a great result for this horse, he’s been a long time out of the winners stall, but it’s good to see him back in form and getting a win because he’s been very honest.”