Showtime secures first winner
Arrowfield Stud’s first-season sire Showtime gained his first winner on Saturday afternoon with the debut success of Show Royale.
The juvenile filly is trained by Lloyd Kennewell and got underway with a 1l victory in a 1000-metre maiden at Bendigo. Despite winning a Cranbourne trial just five days previously, she was unfancied in the market at $41.
However, she improved smartly from her prominent position to take up the running at the 300-metre mark and held on after showing some inexperience once in front.
Bred and sold by Goodwood Farm, Show Royale was picked up by her trainer, Group 1 Bloodstock (FBAA) and Ridgeport at last year’s Inglis Classic Yearling Sale for $85,000. She is out of Ducey Du (Royal Academy {USA}), a half-sister to Acey Ducey - Fortune Red Pepper (HK), a Group 2 winner.
Annavisto earns Coolmore tilt
Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr were delighted with the dominant, first-up display from their 5-year-old mare Annavisto (NZ) (Reliable Man {GB}), and will now aim her at the G1 Coolmore Classic in three weeks' time.
Annavisto scored back-to-back G3 Tony Bourke Memorial wins at Flemington on Saturday, pouring it on to score by 3.5l over Wrote To Arataki (NZ) (Wrote {Ire}), with Excelida (Exceed And Excel) a further 0.75l away in third.
“She’s quicker, she’s faster, she’s a big strong mare, she’s furnished and full credit to her,” winning rider Jamie Kah told Racing.com after her victory.
Bred and now co-owned by Nearco Stud, Annavisto is out of Avisto (NZ) (Tavistock {NZ}) who won three Listed events.
Electric first stakes for Lloyd
Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes’ Electric Girl (Declaration Of War {USA}) nabbed the G2 Millie Fox S. at Rosehill on Saturday afternoon off last year’s winner Expat (NZ) (Makfi {GB}).
The 6-year-old mare pounced on long-time leader Expat with just 50 metres to go, who was relegated to a 0.45l defeat by a well-timed Zac Lloyd ride. A further 0.41l away in third was Chris Waller’s Roots (Press Statement).
Bred and raced by Superhorse Syndicate, Electric Girl is out of the twice-raced Electra (Zizou), is a sibling to two four-time winners and is from a South African family under her third dam.
It was the second Group 2 success for Electric Girl, who took the 2021 Hot Danish S., also at Rosehill. It was a first stakes winner for Lloyd, an apprentice rider who sits on 47 winners for the season in New South Wales, with his over $3 million in prizemoney putting him in 13th place in a premiership dominated by James McDonald.
After taking the third race, an 1100-metre handicap, aboard James Cummings’ 3-year-old Astern filly Parisal, Lloyd teamed up again with the Godolphin trainer in the last race and secured a treble aboard a resurgent Andermatt (Snitzel) in the BM94 (1100 metres).
Another smart Southern Hemisphere Frankel unearthed
Darby Racing’s King Frankel (Ire) (Frankel {GB}) was dominant in the Listed Parramatta Cup (1900 metres) at Rosehill on Saturday. It was a first stakes winner for the Mark Newnham-trained 5-year-old gelding, who has tasted defeat only once in five starts in Australia.
Eventually finishing 0.21l second, Banju (Benfica) at one point led the field by 5l down the back straight and put up a tough fight. However, King Frankel dug deep after drawing alongside, and the pair left Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Sacramento (Pierro) 1.22l behind.
Formerly trained by Mark Johnston in the UK, King Frankel was a 280,000gns (AU$514,700) for him at Book 1 of the 2019 Tattersalls October Yearling Sale. He is out of the Group 1-placed You’ll Be Mine (USA) (Kingmambo {USA}), from an excellent Coolmore family, and his brother He’s Eminent (Ire) won a French Group 2 and placed in the G1 Irish Champion S. before being exported to Australia, where he placed in the 2019 G1 Ranvet S.
He becomes stakes winner number 108 for Juddmonte Farms’ superstar sire Frankel (GB), with 15 of those being added on Australian soil, including three elite-level scorers.
Lane steals a treble
Damian Lane completed his Flemington treble on Saturday with an enterprising ride aboard Scallopini (Snitzel) in the Listed Elms H. Slipping the field with 400 metres to run, Lane pressed on and couldn’t be caught, with Biometric (GB) (Bated Breath {GB}) the nearest closer finishing 0.75l away. In third, 0.3l further away, was Munhamek (GB) (Dark Angel {Ire}).
An 8-year-old gelding, Scallopini is raced by a Proven Thoroughbreds-led syndicate, and trained by Steven O'Dea and Matthew Hoysted. He improved his earnings past $1 million with Saturday’s victory and has now won 12 races from his 40 starts.
He was a $200,000 purchase at the 2016 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase for Proven Thoroughbreds and O’Dea, and is out of the unraced More Than Ready (USA) mare Rose Of Mulan, making him a half-brother to G2 Sheraco S. winner Shades Of Rose (Rubick).
Scallopini’s victory headlined a cross-state treble for Arrowfield Stud’s Snitzel on Saturday, with a victory following for Andermatt at Rosehill whilst 3-year-old filly Emerald Cut broke her maiden on debut in the first at Gosford for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
All Charges Pressed
Saturday’s Listed Southland Guineas at Ascot Park went the way of Press Charges (NZ) (Press Statement) who benefitted from an aggressive Lisa Allpress ride. It was just a second start for the 3-year-old gelding, who is trained by Terri Rae at Riccarton Park.
Forced three-wide rounding the home turn, Allpress laid down her challenge with 500 metres to run and scored by 0.8l over the favoured Specialty (NZ) (Rip Van Winkle {Ire}), with Tough Time (NZ) (Shamexpress {NZ}) another 0.8l away in third.
Press Charges was a NZ$135,000 purchase at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale for Amanda Turner Racing and is out of Max It Out (Northern Meteor), a three-time winner.
He becomes a fifth stakes winner for Press Statement, who stands at Vinery Stud, and who also sired a double on Saturday when the Peter Hardacre-trained Press Down, another 3-year-old gelding, doubled his tally in handicap company at Morphettville Parks.
World Pool kicked off at Flemington
Saturday's meeting at Flemington was a first for Australian racing as it played host to a World Pool event for the first time. It appears to have been a significant boost to the market, with the total bet on the win market via The TAB in the G1 Lightning S. sitting at just over $1.4 million, whereas the same market saw around $422,000 laid down for last year's renewal of the race. It was a similar story for the place market.
The highest turnover from any of the 2022/23 World Pool fixtures to have taken place so far came out of Goodwood Cup Day last year in the UK, with HK$320.4 million (AU$59.36 million) changing hands over the whole day.
Baffert blocked
A federal judge on Friday denied Bob Baffert a preliminary injunction that the Hall of Fame trainer had sought to be eligible to race in this year's G1 Kentucky Derby.
Baffert was attempting to reverse the second year of a two-year ban by CDI that prohibits his trainees from racing at CDI-controlled tracks, accruing Derby qualifying points and competing in the Derby.
Baffert's attorney, Clark Brewster, spoke to TDN America on Friday. He said he was just leaving a federal courthouse in Wisconsin after arguing another case, and that he would only be able to comment based on a summary of the rulings because he had not yet had time to fully read Judge Jennings' orders.
“This is extraordinary because the whole alleged rule violation was based on the use of a salve or an ointment that was expressly permitted and authorised by the rules,” Brewster said. “There's no question about it. No person could look at it now and say that that was a rule violation…. So then you wonder how a private entity could just take somebody out for two years without even having an interest in knowing the merit of their position.”
