Written by Paul Vettise
Hallmark Stud will break fresh ground at Rosehill on Saturday when its resident stallion Super Easy (NZ) is represented by his first Australian Group 1 runner.
His son Easy Eddie (NZ) has graduated to the big time with a last-start success in the Group 3 Maurice McCarten S. for trainer Joe Pride, earning him a crack at the Group 1 Ooh!Media Galaxy.
“It’s great for Super Easy, he’s done a really good job,” Hallmark’s Mark Baker said. “It’s interesting for us with Ball Of Muscle in the race as well. We all know what Joe Pride has done with the breed.”
Super Easy
A former Singapore Horse of the Year, Super Easy is a son of the broodmare gem Parfore (NZ) (Gold Brose), who has also produced the Pride-trained pair of 2014 G1 Galaxy winner Tiger Tees (Dubawi {Ire}) and the G1 Darley Classic and G1 Lightning H. Terravista (Captain Rio {GB}).
“He’s a great trainer and he’s taken Eddie along slowly and done terrifically well with him.” - Mark Baker.
Pride has Super Easy's half-brother Ball Of Muscle flying the family flag and he has won three times at Group 2 level and finished runner-up in the G1 Moir S.
“He’s a great trainer and he’s taken Eddie along slowly and done terrifically well with him,” Baker said.
“If it keeps raining over there it wouldn’t worry him. Having said that, he’s also won on top of the ground and that’s a mark of a pretty good horse.”
The winner of eight of his 20 starts, Easy Eddie is out of Twin Town (GB) (Halling {USA}) , who is from the family of the six-time international Group 1 winner Midday (GB) (Oasis Dream {GB}). Valachi Downs stallion Zacinto (GB) also appears on a rich pedigree page.
Easy Eddie
“Twin Town came to us and then went over in foal with Eddie,” Baker said. “Mark Hoare, who is based in Melbourne, and his partners owned her and wanted her back over there.”
“If it keeps raining over there it wouldn’t worry him.” – Mark Baker.
Easy Eddie was subsequently purchased by Pride out of Two Bays Farm’s draft for $55,000 at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale.
“In terms of splitting my two for the punters, I'd go on the track rating. If that track is six or better, I'd go with Ball Of Muscle, if it's worse than six then Easy Eddie," Pride said.
Easy Eddie bounced through his first-up win well to convince Pride to run in the Galaxy.
Easy Eddie was a $55,000 Inglis Premier purchase
"People might look at his form and think he only beat She Knows and All Over Bosanova but it's the amount of improvement he takes out of a run, I know he'll be significantly better this week," Pride said.
"Horses can lose their winning way, which he did for a couple of years." - Joseph Pride.
Ball Of Muscle defeated the two-time The Everest winner Redzel (Snitzel) in the G2 Challenge S. to continue a much admired habit.
"Horses can lose their winning way, which he did for a couple of years," Pride said.
"Now, eight of his last nine assignments he's won, that's trials and races included, and he's just got that won't-let-them-past-him type of attitude.”
