All plain sailing as colt books passage into Stradbroke

Cover image by Dan Himbrechts courtesy of AAP Photos

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Dawn Passage claimed top honours in Saturday’s G3 TAB Fred Best Classic, which guaranteed him a start and $5 favouritism for next weekend’s G1 Stradbroke H. at Eagle Farm.

The Tony Gollan-trained Shalwa (NZ) (O’Reilly) is also safely into the Stradbroke courtesy of her success in the Listed TAB Helen Coughlan S., but whether she takes her place has yet to be decided.

Dawn Passage had been in danger of missing a start in the time-honoured sprint at Eagle Farm so connections decided to take uncertainty out of the equation and duly earned the golden ticket.

He will carry a featherweight 50kg next Saturday, a substantial 7kg drop from the Fred Best in which he stalked the pace three wide for much of the race and then had an easy run to the line to win with something in reserve.

Colt the real deal

Rider Brad Stewart confirmed the victory was as easy as it looked in his post-race interview and said the colt was the ‘real deal.’ He is unable to make the Stradbroke weight and the ride will be taken by James Innes Jnr, who is in isolation in Brisbane to comply with the coronavirus protocol.

The backmarkers Exhilarates (Snitzel) and Subppenaed (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}) made ground strongly and their respective jockeys Larry Cassidy and Michael Cahill both said their mounts were unsuited when the pace dropped out of the race.

Bred by the Toorak Thoroughbred Breeding Trust, Dawn Passage is a half-brother to the G3 Jansz S. winner Dinkum Diamond (Keep The Faith), who has produced the G3 San Domenico S. winner and G1 Golden Rose S. placegetter Graff (Star Witness).

Dawn Passage was bought out of Mill Park Stud’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale draft for $150,000 by Waterhouse and Bott and Blue Sky Bloodstock.

His dam Raja Lane (Devaraja {NZ}) won seven races, including the G3 Dermody S. and a pedigree page that features the four-time Group 2 winner Big Dreams (Habituate {Ire}), who also placed six times at Group 1 level, and the three-time Group 2 winner Phillip (Swashbuckler).

Stradbroke start in balance

Shalwa earned her golden ticket into the Stradbroke with her defeat of stablemate Krone (Eurozone) in the final event on the card, but Gollan said he would discuss a start with part-owner and bloodstock agent Sheamus Mills.

“It was a bit of a surprise, there’s no doubt, and we definitely didn’t have any thoughts about the Stradbroke with her and probably wouldn’t be ideal as she’s probably not up to that grade. I’ll have a chat to Sheamus and work it out,” he said.

Shalwa broke her maiden when trained in Melbourne by Mick Price and subsequently transferred to Gollan’s stable and has now added a further six wins.

She was given a cosy run by apprentice Baylee Nothdurft before bursting to the front halfway down the straight and was strong to the line.

“This was always her sort of race to set her for and she loves Doomben and over 1350 metres it panned out that she was able to control the speed outside of the leader,” Gollan said.

“She has been racing so well and she had her first start for this prep in September so she’s done a great job.”

Shalwa was coming back in trip after finishing third over 1600 metres on the track in early May and had been kept up to the mark with a subsequent trial outing.

“We tried her out at a mile and she showed how tough she was. We took the blinkers off four or five runs ago and she’s been ultra-consistent and is a really impressive little mare.

“I’m so proud of her, she never really runs a bad race and always turns up. There’s not a lot of her, but she puts herself in a winning position and gives a good kick and she’s done the job again for me.”

Shalwa is a grand-daughter of the two-time Group 1 winner Flitter (NZ) (Bluebird {USA}) and the family of the G2 Sandown Guineas winner Ringerdingding (Sebring) and the G2 Matriarch S. winner Jessy Belle (Rock Of Gibraltar {Ire}).