Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
The G3 Coolmore Dark Jewel Classic at Scone has been high on Jason Abrahams’ wish list for years, and on Friday his quality mare Rocha Clock (Pierro) finally made it a reality.
The first leg of a black-type double for jockey Rachel King, who also won the Listed Darley Scone Cup aboard Laure Me In (Ad Valorem {USA}), Rocha Clock overcame a slow start from a wide gate and surged into contention out wide in the straight.
She hit the lead inside the last 200 metres and then turned back a strong late challenge from Missile Mantra (Smart Missile) to win by a long neck in front of a huge crowd.
It was the seventh win of Rocha Clock’s 16-start career, and a valuable first victory at black-type level.
“It’s very exciting to finally win this Group 3 at Scone,” Abrahams told TDN AusNZ. “It's a race we've always targeted, but never had one quite good enough to get there. So to win this race in the epicentre of thoroughbred racing in Australia is fantastic.”
Although she had previously won the $250,000 Inglis Bracelet at Flemington, Rocha Clock had been forced to settle for minor placings at black-type level prior to Friday’s big breakthrough.
“She ran second in the Inglis Guineas and third in the G3 Aspiration H. earlier this year as well, so she’s had a couple of stakes placings previously, and now this win,” Abrahams said. “We sent her back to benchmark grade in between times and she won well (at Randwick on April 24).
“The plan now is to go north to Queensland, where there’s a $500,000 race for fillies and mares over 1600 metres at Eagle Farm in three weeks (the inaugural Queensland Sapphire S. on June 5), which will be perfect for her.
“There could be the option of the G1 Tatt’s Tiara after that (June 26), although that’s a step back down to 1400 metres. We’ll just see how she goes in her next start and then take it from there.”
Trainer John O’Shea was delighted with Friday’s result and credited a perfectly timed ride by King.
“She’s just in good form,” O’Shea said. “Despite the fact she had a wide gate, we come here thinking she’d run well, and she really lived up to that.
“Really, really super ride from Rachel, and a good team effort to get her going.
“We’ve got a nice race picked out for her in Brisbane in three weeks’ time. She’s just in a rich vein of form, just a really happy mare racing well.”
A valuable breeding proposition
Rocha Clock has already delivered an outstanding return on her $200,000 purchase price at the 2018 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where Anthony Cummings Thoroughbreds recruited her from the draft of Coolmore Stud. The 4-year-old has already amassed more than $546,765 in stakes.
But Friday’s Group 3 win means so much more for her potential breeding value, having now followed in the footsteps of her Group 1-winning dam Larrocha (Danehill {USA}) in securing big black type. Her grandam Kensington Gardens (NZ) (Grosevenor {NZ}) also placed in the G1 Australian Oaks.
“It’s a great family,” Abrahams said. “She and her first two dams all have black print, so she’ll be very valuable long-term.”
“She (Rocha Clock) and her first two dams all have black print, so she’ll be very valuable long-term." - Jason Abrahams
While he is enjoying her racetrack exploits and is in no rush to start thinking about the next phase of her career, Abrahams admitted that a young Darley stallion had caught his attention as a potential future mating.
“Being a stakes-winning Pierro mare, out of an Encosta De Lago mare, there are plenty of options around for her,” he said. “She has a pretty open pedigree, so she’d mate with most stallions. It would just depend how much you’re willing to spend.
“One that’s caught my eye is Bivouac – a really commercial first-season sire. I saw him this morning at Darley, actually, and I think he’s an extremely exciting prospect as a stallion.
“He’s a great type, he was a very fast horse and a champion sprinter. He has a lovely head, great attitude, tremendous shoulder and a real depth of girth. There’s also a fair bit of length about him, which is great for a sprinting type of horse.
“On his physical attributes, I think he’ll suit a lot of the mares in the Hunter Valley.”
