Smart juveniles reappear in Canterbury Park trials

Written by Jessica Owers

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Sydney’s Canterbury Park hosted a full morning of trials on Tuesday, and the 2-year-old game was good with seven heats for the juveniles.

Each of the results represented a different sire, with progeny of Dundeel (NZ), Written By, Snitzel and Exceed And Excel posting wins for the colts and geldings, while the winning fillies represented Trapeze Artist, Choisir and Hellbent. As such, it was a mixed bag of results.

Trapeze Artist (via Facile) continued his good run as a first-season sire, following on from his son Disneck becoming his very first winner last weekend. For China Horse Club and Newgate Farm, the pair of Snapback (Snitzel) and Marching (Russian Revolution) were a close quinella in Heat 11.

Gallery: Canterbury Park trials, images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

In Heat 12, the $1.2 million yearling Mach Ten (Exceed And Excel) was a high-profile winner for trainer Michael Freedman. Mach Ten, a James Harron colt, was second on debut in the G3 Breeders’ Plate behind Empire Of Japan (Snitzel), who galloped in behind Ritzytwenties (NZ) (Dundeel {NZ}) in Heat 9 on Tuesday morning.

For Annabel Neasham, Empress Of Wonder (Choisir) was a 1.63l winner of Heat 14, and this filly was reappearing after her gallant second to Charm Stone (I Am Invincible) in the G3 Ottawa S. at Flemington on Oaks Day.

Whipping in the juvenile trials was Fire Lane, the Hellbent filly whose winning debut was just a fortnight ago in the Max Lees Classic at Newcastle.

Gallery: Canterbury Park trials, images courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

Fire Lane for Wyong

Two-year-old Fire Lane is trained at Hawkesbury by Brad Widdup, and on debut in the Max Lees Classic she posted a 0.04l victory over the Godolphin colt Cylinder (Exceed And Excel), who has since been second in the Listed Merson Cooper S. last weekend.

Fire Lane’s rap sheet reads very well at the moment, the filly being second in her debut trial on November 4 at Warwick Farm, then winning at Newcastle before Tuesday’s efficient trial win.

She beat Summer Loving (Exceed And Excel) in her heat, a filly that was third on debut in the million-dollar Golden Gift at Rosehill, while the field also included the Bjorn Baker-trained Line Of Law (Russian Revolution), who was third in the Max Lees Classic.

“She did everything right,” Widdup said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “She’s very straightforward so we’ll keep pressing on into the Magic Millions race at Wyong next, I’d say.”

Widdup purchased Fire Lane with BK Racing and Breeding at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. She cost them $330,000 from the draft of Yarraman Park Stud, a sum of money that Widdup doesn’t sneeze at.

“She was a $330,000 yearling so you’d expect her to perform,” the trainer said. “She’s got a bit of quality. At the sale, she wasn’t overly big but she was a good-moving filly with a terrific attitude, and I like the stallion.”

Fire Lane was the third foal from the Charge Forward mare Heritage Lane, herself a daughter of Laurel Avenue (USA) (Avenue Of Flags {USA}), and this is where all the weight of the pedigree rests.

Laurel Avenue was a stakes winner in America, but her daughter Sunday Valentine (Sunday Silence {USA}) was the dam of the Group 3 and Listed winner El Daana (Redoute’s Choice), in turn the dam of the dual Group winner Wawail (Lonhro).

Heritage Lane was sold by Yarraman Park for $70,000 at this year’s Inglis Sydney Broodmare Sale, picked up by LJ and PJ Ibbotson, in foal with a full sister to Fire Lane. She has an Astern half-brother upcoming in the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale (Lot 1118), a colt being offered by Glen Gallic Stud.

For Widdup, Tuesday’s trial win was as textbook as they come for Fire Lane.

“She was very professional for a young filly,” he said. “I would have preferred to get a bit of cover but she jumped well and went to the lead. She’s quite strong but she’s not a tall filly. There’s enough of her and hopefully she can be competitive at Wyong.”

Widdup isn’t running big numbers among the 2-year-olds. When he gets a good one, he wants to nurse it along so that lucrative races like the Magic Millions series are within reach.

“It’s about them being healthy and well and being able to handle the work,” he said. “You don’t have to overwork them at this point of their career, so as long as they’re ticking over weekly and doing everything right, that’s what matters. This filly is very natural and she seems to be handling the workload at this time of year.”

Mach Ten goes on

Each of Tuesday’s seven juvenile trials occurred over 898 metres of the course proper. The quickest of the times posted was the filly Facile, a daughter of Trapeze Artist who won in 54.34s for trainers Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou.

Facile is a daughter of the stakes winner I Like It Easy (Pierro), and she was bred by the Vieira Group who appropriately raced her sire to such success.

Both Facile and Fire Lane (54.38s) posted the two fastest juvenile trials of the morning, while among the colts and geldings, Snapback was quickest in 54.54s. The Novelist (Written By) was next (54.55s), and Harron’s Mach Ten got home in 54.75s.

The latter is raced by the James Harron Bloodstock Colt Partnership, and his $1.2 million price-tag has obviously attracted him a lot of attention in his short career.

He was bought by Harron from Fernrigg Farm at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, the first foal from the imported Street Boss (USA) mare Devious Rumor (USA).

Mach Ten was a trial winner on debut in September, and he was soundly beaten to run second in the Breeders’ Plate when Empire Of Japan was so strong. On Tuesday morning, however, he was a 1.24l winner with jockey James McDonald aboard, beating Royal Entrance (Snitzel) in the Newgate-China Horse Club colours and Bold Julius (Brazen Beau) for the Maher-Eustace yard.