Race-Day Recap
Making his first start in five months, Sansom (NZ) (Charm Spirit {Ire}) prevailed in a photo finish to the G3 Bletchingly S.
Chris Waller saddled four winners at Rosehill, headed by Order Again (NZ) (Iffraaj {GB}) in the Listed Winter Challenge.
Justaskme (NZ) (No Excuse Needed {GB}) and London Express (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) gave New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock a black-type quinella on his home turf in the Listed Opunake Cup.
Saturday’s meetings featured 2-year-old winners by Maurice (Jpn), Written Tycoon, Worthy Cause, Headwater, Sessions and Trust In A Gust.
Well-related filly It Might Be You (NZ) (Savabeel) lived up to expectations with an impressive debut at Te Rapa.
Bold Bletchingly return by Sansom
Phillip Stokes has one eye on the G1 Toorak H. after his rising star Sansom began a new campaign on the perfect note at Caulfield on Saturday.
Lining up in the G3 The Big Screen Company Bletchingly S. for his first appearance since February, the 4-year-old surged out of midfield and wore down Streets Of Avalon (Magnus) to snatch victory in a head-bobbing finish.
Bred by Qatar Bloodstock and bought by Phillip Stokes Racing for $140,000 from Kitchwin Hills’ draft at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Sansom has now had 21 starts for nine wins and more than $525,000 in stakes.
He has won twice at Group 3 level, having captured the Chatham S. at Flemington last November, and he has now won four of his six first-up starts.
Sansom was ridden to victory on Saturday by Ben Allen, who has been in the saddle for 10 of his starts and seven of his victories.
“Full credit to my team back at Pakenham – they’ve done a fantastic job with him,” Stokes said. “We’ve put a lot of time into getting him to relax better this time in. And obviously Ben knows the horse, and once he got the cover, he knew he’d switch off.
“We’ve changed things around with him in this prep. He did all of his pre-training at my farm, where we’ve got an uphill training track with two inclines. This is the first horse we’ve had race off that, so we’re off to a good start.
"He (Sansom) did all of his pre-training at my farm, where we’ve got an uphill training track with two inclines. This is the first horse we’ve had race off that, so we’re off to a good start." - Phillip Stokes
“I did think he was vulnerable today, and I played him down to the owners. I said, ‘I think he’ll get beaten.’ He’d only had the one jump-out.
“But he’s a good horse and he’s in for a very good prep. I’d like to see him stretch out over a bit further in time.
“Now that he’s got this under his belt, if we can get him out over a mile, we might be able to get him to a Toorak or something like that.”
The Toorak H. is set down for October 9, and Stokes suggested that the G2 PB Lawrence S. over 1400 metres on August 14 could be the next step along that road.
Phillip Stokes | Image courtesy of Bronwen Healy
Order Again heads Waller quartet
Chris Waller moved to 212 wins in New South Wales this season with a quartet of winners at Rosehill on Saturday, headed by Order Again in the Listed XXXX Winter Challenge.
Placed in all of his previous three starts including the Listed Scone Cup and Winter S., the 7-year-old gelding unleashed a withering, well-timed finish from last in the hands of Hugh Bowman. He reeled in Ziegfeld (GB) (New Approach {Ire}) and thrust his head in front in the shadows of the finish line.
Order Again has now had 37 starts for eight wins, 10 placings and more than $640,000 in stakes for owners Chas and Cam Stewart.
“He’s been very consistent without a lot of things going his way,” said Waller, who has now won the Winter Challenge in six of the last nine years. “It was a well-timed run and in typical Hugh Bowman style he just got there in time.
“Normally we have to space his races, but this time it’s only been 14 days. He spent three or four days at Tim Boland’s farm to keep him happy and healthy. That’s the key to winning races at this time of year – happy horses.
“He’s been running around some decent horses, obviously Bandersnatch was very good last start, so he deserves one or two wins when they come his way.”
“He’s (Order Again) been running around some decent horses, obviously Bandersnatch was very good last start, so he deserves one or two wins when they come his way.” - Chris Waller
Waller’s other wins included a pair of siblings to Group 1 stars. The Bowermans Commercial Furniture H. was won by Yiyi (No Nay Never {USA}), who is a half-brother to Waller’s Australian Oaks winner Unforgotten (Fastnet Rock), while the Schweppes H. winner No Compromise (NZ) (Pins) is a half-brother to this winter’s Stradbroke and Tatt’s Tiara heroine Tofane (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}).
Waller also won the City Tattersalls Club H. with Starla (Snitzel) – a close relative to four-time Group 1-winning New Zealand mare Princess Coup (Encosta De Lago).
Chris Waller | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Sharrock saddles Listed quinella
New Plymouth trainer Allan Sharrock stole the show on his home track on Saturday with a Listed quinella in the Powerworx Opunake Cup.
Sharrock’s two runners London Express and Justaskme drew away from their rivals in the straight and fought out the finish.
London Express had been handy throughout and continued to give her all towards the inside, but Justaskme’s powerful finish from second-last gradually overpowered his stablemate and he drew clear to win by 2l.
Now the winner of six of his 11 starts, Justaskme is a son of the unraced Often (NZ) (O’Reilly {NZ}), whose full sister Freequence (NZ) is the dam of Group 1-winning mare I Do (NZ) (No Excuse Needed {GB}) and G3 Colin Stephen Quality winner Iggi Pop (NZ) (Savabeel).
Trainer Allan Sharrock (centre) with his brother Bruce and the winner’s dress rug for the Listed Powerworx Opunake Cup | Image by Grant Matthews courtesy of Race Images
Justaskme is raced by Sharrock in a partnership that also includes his brother Bruce, the newly appointed chief operating officer at New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing.
The Opunake Cup quinella continued a landmark season for Sharrock, who also won Saturday’s final race with Penelope Cruise (NZ) (Ocean Park {NZ}). Sharrock’s total of 54 winners in 2020/21 is a new personal best, and his seven Group or Listed victories equals his haul from the 2005/06 season.
Justaskme is now being aimed at the G3 Winter Cup at Riccarton on August 7.
Maurice continues first-crop success
A quality first season for freshman Arrowfield Stud stallion Maurice rolled on at Rosehill on Saturday with Silent Impact’s emphatic victory in the Elite Sand & Soil H.
Stepping up from a winning debut at Goulburn on July 9, Silent Impact sat in third place before scything through a gap one off the rail in the straight. With Tim Clark in the saddle for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, the gelding kicked away to score by 1.75l.
Silent Impact is a son of multiple Group 1 winner Hollow Bullet (Tayasu Tsuyoshi {Jpn}), who is also the dam of the Group 3 winner and Group 1-placed Reloaded (Snitzel).
“We went down to Goulburn to try and give him that confidence and exposure to the races, but I thought the 1000 metres there would be well short of his best,” Bott said. “His class got him through that day, and again today.
“I think he’s got a lot of scope to get over much further. He’s a really classy horse.”
“I think he’s (Silent Impact) got a lot of scope to get over much further. He’s a really classy horse.” - Adrian Bott
Maurice has sired eight winners from 31 runners in his first Australian crop this season, including the stakes-placed Invinsible Tears, Port Louis, Mazu, Balmaurice, Maurice’s Medad and Morioka. With progeny earnings of $890,385, Maurice sits in seventh place on this season’s Australian first-season sire standings.
Himself a multiple Group 1 winner of the Kyoto Mile Championship, Yasuda Kinen, Hong Kong Mile, Hong Kong Cup and Tenno Sho, Maurice stands for a 2021 service fee of $44,000 (inc GST).
Maurice (Jpn) | Standing at Arrowfield
In Saturday’s other 2-year-old racing action, River Views (Written Tycoon) charged home from last for an upset victory in the VOBIS Gold Ingot at Caulfield, while Hinged (Worthy Cause) scored by 3.75l at Doomben and Keep Reading (Headwater) was similarly dominant at Morphettville. The 2-year-old race at Belmont was won by The Front Bar (Sessions).
Across the Tasman, Swettenham Stud stallion Trust In A Gust sired his first New Zealand winner, and ninth overall, when Treasure State produced a strong finish from the back of the field to win the New Zealand Bloodstock Insurance Pearl Series 2-Year-Olds at Te Rapa.
Well-bred filly stars on debut
Blue-blooded filly It Might Be You emerged as a bright new prospect for Mike Moroney’s trans-Tasman training operation with a classy debut performance at Te Rapa on Saturday.
A 5l trial winner earlier in the month, It Might Be You was sent out as a warm favourite for the Te Rapa Event Centre 3-Year-Old and lived right up to expectations.
Ridden by Danielle Johnson, who recorded her 150th win of the New Zealand season, It Might Be You was prominently placed throughout and took command with a smart turn of foot in the straight to win by 3.75l.
Racing in the colours of Waikato Stud, It Might Be You is owned by her breeder Garry Chittick and is held in high regard by Moroney and his New Zealand training partner Pam Gerard. She is by Waikato Stud’s Champion Sire Savabeel out of Tootsie (NZ) (Pins), who won seven races including the G3 Mannerism S. and also placed in the G1 Telegraph H.
Tootsie comes from a quality family, being a sibling to Group 2 winner Legless Veuve (NZ) (Pins), as well as the dams of multiple Group 1 winners Probabeel (NZ) (Savabeel) and Savvy Coup (NZ) (Savabeel).
Tootsie is the dam of four winners from five foals to race, headed by the multiple Group 2 winner Ocean Emperor (NZ), who stands at Weowna Park in Matamata for a service fee of NZ$6000 (plus GST). His oldest progeny will be yearlings in 2021/22.
