Saturday summary: In Secret dominates Newmarket as Espiona hands Extreme Choice third Group 1 winner in Coolmore Classic

Cover image courtesy of The Image Is Everything

In Secret on song in Newmarket, TJ looms

It was a drama-packed afternoon at Flemington on Saturday after a mid-race fall in the G2 Sires' Produce S. hospitalised Jamie Kah with concussion and Craig Williams with an injury to his shoulder and elbow.

Both horses involved in the fall, Dubenenko (Russian Revolution) and Flyball (Starspangledbanner), were confirmed as uninjured by Racing Victoria veterinarians.

Although all minds remained on Kah’s condition throughout the rest of the day, some normality was returned to proceedings when Godolphin’s crack 3-year-old In Secret (I Am Invincible) fell back to winning ways in the G1 Newmarket H.

The third 3-year-old filly this century to win a Newmarket, she joins Sunlight (Zoustar) and Alinghi (Encosta De Lago) on that exclusive list.

Picking up the lead with 250 metres to run, In Secret showed a brilliant burst of speed and soon gapped the field. Despite the closing advances of Lofty Strike (Snitzel), who made it a quinella of 3-year-olds, she never looked in danger and maintained a 1l advantage at the line, with I Wish I Win (NZ) (Savabeel) repeating his G1 Lightning S. flash from last place to finish close behind in third.

Capturing the race for a second time following Bivouac in 2020, In Secret’s romp saw James Cummings quick to announce that she’ll head straight to the G1 TJ Smith S. in three weeks’ time.

“First and foremost the hardest thing is to remove the emotion from it because we really feel for Jamie (Kah) and we hope she’s alright,” Cummings said. “Then you’ve got to press on in this business and find who’s available to ride at 51-and-a-half (kgs).

“Didn’t she just explode through the gap?,” Cummings added. “We were confident that we had her perfect, but she exploded through the gap when it came.

“It was a proper Newmarket and with 51-and-a-half (kgs) and at her best we just didn’t see how, with clear running, they might beat her, and she’s proved to be absolutely top shelf again.”

Replacing Jamie Kah, Dean Holland might not have arrived at the races expecting to take home a Group 1 trophy for the second time after a near 13-year break, but jubilation was muted as his first thought post-race was to his injured colleague.

“First of all, the last thing I wanted to do was carry on today… It was very unfortunate what happened to Jamie (Kah) and Willow (Craig Williams) and my thoughts go out to them,” he said.

“I was just the lucky one who was able to ride light today and picked up the ride on one of Australia’s best sprinters.”

Capturing the G1 Coolmore Stud S. in the spring, In Secret was doubling her Group 1 tally having narrowly missed out in a desperate finish to the Surround S. last time. Out of dual-Group 3 winner Eloping (Choisir), she is a rare yearling purchase for the Godolphin team, who secured her for $900,000 at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.

Espiona fights for Coolmore Classic

Chris Waller claimed the honours in the G1 Coolmore Classic at his home turf of Rosehill on Saturday, with Espiona handing her sire Extreme Choice a third winner at the elite level. After 142 Group 1s, it was also a first Coolmore Classic for the trainer.

When she blitzed her rivals by 6.5l at just her second start in the Listed Desirable S. back in November 2021, even a usually reserved Chris Waller might not have imagined that he’d have to wait until 2023 to see Espiona win a Group 1.

Admitting that “she lost her way a bit,” Waller said she drew confidence from a last-start win in the G3 Mannerism S. and, ever humble, he deflected celebratory remarks onto long-time supporter Denise Martin, whose Star Thoroughbreds horses are trained exclusively by Waller.

“It was a special win for Denise Martin who’s a huge supporter of our stable,” Waller said. “She and her owners are just a pleasure to train for.

“It was good to see her get back into winning form on her last start. Obviously, she could be better in Melbourne but we had to have an opportunity on her home track, thrown in at the weights and a lovely draw and a lovely ride from Michael Dee.”

Dee and Waller have struck up quite the partnership this season, Espiona bringing their third Group 1 victory following Durston (GB) (Sea The Moon {Ger}) in the Caulfield Cup and Manzoice (Almanzor {Fr}) in the Victoria Derby shortly after. Dropping down to 51kg to ride the 4-year-old mare, the effort was more than worth it for Dee.

“I knew I was coming up here to ride here three or so weeks ago, and it was a matter of chasing the right ride,” he said.

“I was certainly very happy to be on her today, especially at this light weight. Credit to Chris Waller and his team, and her to herself.”

Despite being given instructions to come down the outside, Dee admitted that an alternative plan soon became the obvious choice. Settling mid-field on the rail, the pair crept up the inside to challenge Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai), and bravely held off her and a closing Sheeza Belter (Gold Standard) in a three-way photo.

Espiona was picked up by Star Thoroughbreds and Brett Howard’s Randwick Bloodstock (FBAA) at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where she cost $190,000. She is out of the winning O’Reilly (NZ) mare Dahooil (NZ), who’s a sister to Listed scorer Bonny O’Reilly (NZ) and a three-quarter sister to Group 2 winner Rare Insight (NZ).

She was consigned at that sale by Torryburn Stud, who have received a welcome update to the page of her Capitalist half-brother who is consigned as Lot 92 at the upcoming Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

It was a Group 1 quinella for O’Reilly as a damsire, with Pride Of Jenni being out of an O’Reilly mare. The former Waikato Stud champion now counts 22 individual Group 1 winners to his record by this metric.

It was also a stakes-led double on the day for Newgate Farm's Extreme Choice after Lloyd Kennewell's 3-year-old colt Meridius won in handicap company at Flemington.

Prowess pulls it off against older horses

The stellar season of Rich Hill Stud’s Proisir was elevated further at Pukekohe Park on Saturday as his 3-year-old filly Prowess (NZ) showed her class in the G1 Bonecrusher New Zealand S. (2050 metres) to become a fifth top-level winner for her sire.

Racing towards the front, she made her challenge down the centre of the course under Michael McNab and had to draw on all her reserves to hold off 5-year-old mare Campionessa (NZ) (Contributer {Ire}) by a neck.

Trained by Roger James and Robert Wellwood, Prowess justified their decision to avoid last Saturday’s G1 New Zealand Derby (2400 metres) and instead race over a more suitable distance, despite having to take on older horses.

“Any Group 1 victory is important and especially for a filly and that was pretty impressive,” James said after the race.

“It doesn’t get any better and it wasn’t easy at all as we were going to the Derby 10 days ago and we made the decision not to, which was definitely the right thing to do.

“She was hand-picked (from the yearling sales) and she is doing the job for her connections.”

Bred by Hallmark Stud, she was a NZ$230,000 purchase for her trainers at the 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale. She is out of the Don Eduardo (NZ) mare Donna Marie (NZ), a half-sister to multiple champion in Singapore Onceuponatime (NZ).

Her first-place prizemoney of NZ$184,000 has extended the lead of her sire in the New Zealand Premiership, and he now sits on NZ$3,343,580, some NZ$1.5 million clear of reigning champion Savabeel.

Zougotcha zips away with Phar Lap

Chris Waller’s star 3-year-old filly Zougotcha (Zoustar) returned to winning ways on Saturday with victory in the G2 Phar Lap S. (1500 metres) at Rosehill. Her unbeaten spring campaign culminated in a dominant defeat of She’s Extreme (Extreme Choice) in the G1 Flight S., and there was little to separate her when she finished fourth in the G1 Surround S. late last month.

But Saturday’s resurgent performance suggests she may have needed that first-up run, and her 0.95l defeat of Glint Of Silver (Rubick) adds her to Waller’s notable honour roll in the 3-year-old fillies’ feature - the trainer now having captured seven of the last nine renewals of the race.

With those past winners including Winx (Street Cry {Ire}), Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}), Funstar (Adelaide {Ire}) and Hungry Heart (Frankel {GB}), Waller revealed that he considers Zougotcha well up there with some of his previous greats and said that selecting the Phar Lap instead of the G1 Coolmore Classic was all about building confidence in the filly.

“It’s an important stepping stone,” Waller commented. “Three-year-old fillies - they’re fragile, they’re not just a horse you can send to the races and expect to perform. They like a bit of a cuddle and a bit of a pat on the back.

“The next step is something bigger, which will probably be the (G1) Doncaster (H.), and that’ll be another mountain to climb.”

Now an $8 equal favourite for the G1 Doncaster H., winning jockey James McDonald described the victory as “smooth sailing,” though added that the early move of last year’s G1 Golden Slipper S. winner Fireburn (Rebel Dane) to join Zougotcha in the back straight lit her up a little.

A $500,000 purchase for her trainer and Mulcaster Bloodstock at the 2021 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Zougotcha is out of the Fastnet Rock mare Fast Talker, a three-time winner. She’s a sister to Listed Twilight Glow S. winner Persuader and a half-sister to another stakes winner in The Actuary (Sebring).

Revolution continues with more Classic-year success

A week after Communist confirmed that last season’s Champion First Season Sire Russian Revolution is well able to produce top-class 3-year-olds, Peter and Paul Snowden’s Revolutionary Miss handed the sire a third stakes winner of Classic age when taking out the G2 Kewney S. (1600 metres) at Flemington.

Away smartly from the barriers, the Triple Crown-raced filly found herself on the speed, just behind the leader Terrestar (Zoustar). With the field fanning four-wide into the home straight, she had to wait until a gap opened at the 200-metre mark before making her challenge - which came just in time as she produced an impressive turn of foot to edge out Papillon Club (Toronado {Ire}) by a nose in the dying strides.

A winner of last season’s G2 Blue Diamond Prelude (Fillies) and runner-up in the juvenile feature itself, Revolutionary Miss returned this term to record some solid efforts including a second in the G1 Thousand Guineas. Delighted to finally secure a stakes win in her Classic year, co-trainer Peter Snowden commented:

“She’s a tough filly and she’s been the bridesmaid on two occasions… A Group 2 means everything for this filly and everything for these owners, so it’s a great result.

“She looked the winner a long way out but had nowhere to go.”

Hinting only that Sydney targets are now on the agenda for the filly, Snowden also heaped praise onto jockey Mark Zahra for extricating himself just in time.

Revolutionary Miss is out of the juvenile winner Purcentage (Onemorenomore), who was also Listed placed, and is a half-sister to Listed Canberra Guineas winner Equation (Press Statement). She was a $195,000 purchase at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for Triple Crown Syndications.

Cannonball crashes home in McCarten

Stakes-winning juvenile Cannonball (Capitalist) had failed to hit the board since returning as a 3-year-old this season, despite some solid placed efforts including a third in the G2 Danehill S. last time out in October.

That was to be his final start for Victorian-based trainers Anthony and Sam Freedman, and everything fell into place as he made his debut run for the Snowden stable at Rosehill on Saturday, capturing the G3 Maurice McCarten S. with a tough front-running performance - and sealing a stakes double for Peter and Paul Snowden.

Co-trainer Paul Snowden credited the low draw, fast ground and a light weight of 53kg for allowing the son of Capitalist to produce a career-best effort, and he did it in a notably quick time - clocking 33.05s for the final 300 metres - as he defeated Godolphin's Athelric (Exceed And Excel) by 1.3l.

It will be an especially pleasing win for James Harron, not only notching another stakes win for his colts’ syndicate but also doing so with a son of Capitalist, who also raced in his green colours.

He may yet quickly become another elite-level winner for Harron, with next weekend’s G1 The Galaxy H. now in the sights. Things haven’t gone entirely to plan though for connections, having scratched from last weekend’s Listed Fireball S. which was intended as their lead-up race to The Galaxy.

As to why he didn’t run last week, co-trainer Paul Snowden explained:

“We had him in at Randwick last week… but we got that inch of rain 12 hours before game day and once you start to take the jar off that track it would suit 99.9 per cent of horses but it would take the edge off him.

“He’s always going to improve off the back of it. We’ve got the luxury of seeing the sectionals come up every furlong and he wasn’t going hard… he was just too good for them.”

He might have had plenty left in the finish, but Brett Prebble, who had partnered the horse twice before including in his last start in the spring, found himself with his hands full early on in the race as the pace was pressed by Athelric. Describing Cannonball as “a little bit fresh today,” he added:

“... James (McDonald) eyeballed him a bit and he got a bit keen. He can do that, obviously the blinkers make him focus but they can make him a bit aggressive too.

“Every piece of work he’s doing, every race, he’s only going to get tighter and fitter for it - but he’ll need to because the bar will rise.”

A typically high-profile purchase for James Harron Bloodstock at the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Cannonball commanded $975,000 and is out of the Listed Merson Cooper S. winner Golconda (Snitzel). Since that purchase, his year-older brother Marine One, who’d shown good form including placing in the G3 Maribyrnong Plate, won the G2 Rubiton S.

Protagonist lands with a bang for Haggas

Protagonist (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) continued the success story of British trainer William Haggas in Australia when he captured the G3 Sky High S. (2000 metres) at Rosehill, beating fellow French-bred 6-year-old gelding Zeyrek (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) when holding on in a photo finish.

It won’t be a huge surprise to the team at home, as you may remember Haggas serving a warning on Protagonist late last month when he told TDN AusNZ readers: “You shouldn’t underestimate him, he’s quite a smart horse.”

Still, that was before the horse had touched down on Australian soil and have been plenty of hurdles to jump since then, and the local preparation has been ably handled by assistant trainer Issy Paul, her second stint in charge of the raiding team having accompanied Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) two years ago.

“To come off a flight and after two weeks of quarantine - we’ve only come out of quarantine today - he’s awesome,” Paul said.

“We weren’t sure whether the ground was going to suit him, particularly when they upgraded the track, but what a star.”

Whilst Paul declined to commit to a future target for the horse, James McDonald pointed to improvement still to come.

“He’s a nice, solid galloper who handles himself beautifully,” McDonald said. “I think he’ll improve a bit off that as well - he hit the front a fair way from home and just star-gazed a bit, just had a good look around.

“When they got to him he found again, so that was impressive.”

It was stakes winner number 30 for Coolmore shuttler Wootton Bassett (GB), whose progeny are headed by emerging sire Almanzor (Fr), who himself shuttles to Cambridge Stud in New Zealand.