Written by Richard Edmunds
For the second year in a row, a future member of the Arrowfield stallion roster has triumphed in the G1 Sky Racing Active Rosehill Guineas.
Last year it was all about the boom colt The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice), who brought the curtain down on his scintillating career with victory in the Rosehill Guineas. He finished with eight wins from nine starts, five of them at Group 1 level, and he now stands at Arrowfield for a service fee of $77,000.
Now the famous stud has gone back-to-back as part-owner of this year’s Guineas winner Castelvecchio (Dundeel {NZ}).
Castelvecchio wins the G1 Sky Racing Active Rosehill Guineas
The star of the Richard Litt stable was already a highly valuable colt. He ended his 2-year-old season with a victory in the G1 Champagne S. at Randwick, and he went to a new level in the spring with a second placing in the Cox Plate – splitting the superb Japanese mare Lys Gracieux (Jpn) (Heart’s Cry {Jpn}) and Kiwi star Te Akau Shark (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}).
But Saturday’s Rosehill Guineas was another highly significant addition to Castelvecchio’s record. After being unplaced in the G2 Hobartville S. and G1 Randwick Guineas in his first two starts of this preparation, it was a timely and emphatic return to top form.
Ridden by Craig Williams, Castelvecchio raced in a more prominent position than usual, settling in fourth as Prince Fawaz (Fastnet Rock) and The Holy One (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) took turns out in front.
Prince Fawaz regained the lead in the straight and fought hard, but Castelvecchio powered home over the top of him to win by 0.5l. Reloaded (Snitzel) finished third, 2.5l behind the first pair.
“The real Castelvecchio turned up today and put them away,” Litt said. “He showed his true colours, and I’m so proud of him.
“It’s massive. Another Group 1 win is huge for my training career. There was a bit of pressure coming into today. I normally say pressure is just for tyres, but today we really felt it. We’re just lucky we’ve got a great horse.
“He’s a Group 1 winner at 2 and now a Group 1 winner at 3 as well, which looks great on his stud CV. All of the people involved in my stable have done a wonderful job and we’re very proud.”
“He’s a Group 1 winner at 2 and now a Group 1 winner at 3 as well, which looks great on his stud CV." - Richard Litt
Litt said a decision will soon be made on the remainder of Castelvecchio’s autumn. The G1 Australian Derby at Randwick on April 4 and the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. a week later are both strong options.
“We’ll let his connections make that decision,” Litt said. “He looked like he was running away from them today, and on that performance I think he’ll eat up the 2400 metres of the Derby. But we’ve also got the Queen Elizabeth a week later with some wonderful prize-money, so we’ve got some thinking to do.”
Like his future barnmate The Autumn Sun, Castelvecchio was bred by Arrowfield and is a son of an Arrowfield stallion. The Autumn Sun is by the late champion Redoute’s Choice, and Castelvecchio is a son of Dundeel (NZ). Arrowfield bought a controlling interest in Castelvecchio in late October, after his Cox Plate placing.
Williams savours Rosehill reunion
Castelvecchio was ridden to victory by Craig Williams, whose only previous race ride on the colt was in the Cox Plate.
Craig Williams
“I’m very fond of this horse,” Williams said. “I was really grateful for the opportunity to ride him in the Cox Plate in the spring.
“I sat on him on the Tuesday morning before that race and he wasn’t much of a worker, so I just trusted Richard and his knowledge of the horse. We saw the performance he gave me on raceday.
“I’m very fond of this horse... I was really grateful for the opportunity to ride him in the Cox Plate in the spring." - Craig Williams
“I wasn’t able to establish that I could stay on him through the autumn, because of all the big racing in both Melbourne and Sydney, and you can’t be in two places at once.
“I was grateful for the opportunity to get back on him today, third time up and stepping up to ten furlongs.
“Richard asked me to come up earlier in the week and ride him in a piece of work, but my team decided that we couldn’t afford that much travel domestically, given the current situation.
“I had a phone call an hour and a half later from John Messara, who said they really valued my partnership with the horse and would love me to come up and do it.
“They spent a big expense to get me up here, and that’s also opened the doors for us jockeys to fly up from Melbourne in a confined, contained environment. It’s allowed us to be here riding today.”
Jockeys pleased with Shadow Hero and Warning
Group 1 winners Shadow Hero (Pierro) and Warning (Declaration Of War {USA}) finished fourth and fifth respectively, and their riders were delighted with their performances.
“We ended up four lengths further back than we would have liked in a stop-start affair,” said Josh Parr, who rode Shadow Hero. “The gate (eight) was probably the difference.”
Warning’s rider Damien Oliver believes the Victoria Derby winner is progressing well towards the Sydney equivalent at Randwick next month.
Warning
“It was a good run,” he said. “When the pace came out of the race it was a bit against him but he ran well.”
New Zealand Derby winner Sherwood Forest (Fastnet Rock) finished seventh, with jockey Michael Walker believing the drop back to 2000 metres went against him.
“He needs a mile and a half,” he said.
