Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
Before he had even stepped out in public for the first time at the official Randwick 2-year-old trials back in September, Ozzmosis had been singled out by the team at Darby Racing as a horse with any amount of potential.
Fast forward nine months and the son of Zoustar has done nothing to suggest that he won’t live up to that billing, having cruised to three trial victories and backed up his debut win against the older horses with a taking success at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Although it has taken slightly longer to get him to the races than everyone would have liked, Ozzmosis has done an excellent job of making up for lost time, and his connections will now spend the rest of the winter dreaming of what might be in the spring.
“He’s probably one of the most exciting colts that we’ve been involved with,” Darby Racing’s Scott Darby said. “From day one he showed us that he had plenty of talent and he’s just continued to get better.
Bjorn Baker and Scott Darby | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“We thought we had a Breeders’ Plate colt early on, but he probably just lacked that little bit of maturity. He was like that at the Magic Millions sale, just a little bit backward, and I think had he been a little more forward at the sale he would have commanded more money.
“I think we did a video of him galloping for the owners in July or August. It was the very first gallop he had and he put five or six lengths on his mate. From that moment we thought, ‘Gee, we might have something pretty special here’.
“I remember the first day we jumped him out up the straight at Warwick Farm and he put panels on his rivals. He won his trial at Randwick but then he just had a little bit of a setback, so we tipped him out, which was probably a blessing in disguise really. He’s had time to mature and he’s really starting to put it together now.”
A $250,000 purchase from the Sledmere Stud draft at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Ozzmosis has earned glowing praise from all those who have worked with him ever since he first stepped foot in Bjorn Baker’s Warwick Farm stables.
Ozzmosis as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
In the immediate moments after he preserved his unbeaten record at Royal Randwick on Saturday, Baker was quoted as saying he had not been that nervous about a racehorse for some time, sentiments that were echoed by Darby and the rest of his team.
“We’ve been in some of the biggest races and Golden Slippers, but we were very tense and nervous yesterday and at his first run,” Darby admitted. “I suppose that attests to what we think of the horse.
“A lot of them can disappoint you once you get to raceday. That’s probably where all the nerves and tension comes from - when you think you’ve got something pretty good, you just want to see it on raceday.
“Obviously, we had the Yankee Rose and She Will Reign days, but certainly he’s the most promising colt we’ve been involved with since Time To Reign, who won a Silver Slipper and finished fifth in a Golden Slipper.
“Even though he’s only won a Gosford maiden and a Randwick winter 2-year-old race, the buzz around him is huge.”
“Obviously, we (Darby Racing) had the Yankee Rose and She Will Reign days, but certainly he’s (Ozzmosis is) the most promising colt we’ve been involved with since Time To Reign, who won a Silver Slipper and finished fifth in a Golden Slipper.” - Scott Darby
Saturday’s race may not have been as competitive as the G1 Blue Diamond and G1 Golden Slipper earlier this year, but the field did include a pair of previous metropolitan winners in the shape of Fleetwood (Encryption) and Sovereign Fund (Capitalist), the latter of which already had a stakes win to his name having landed the R. Listed Magic Millions Wyong 2YO Classic on debut earlier in the season.
There was also plenty of hype surrounding the eventual runner-up Royal Tribute (Snitzel), a $500,000 fellow Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling graduate who had looked the goods for the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable in two bloodless trial victories prior to Saturday’s competitive debut.
With that in mind, Darby has no qualms about letting Ozzmosis take his chance in the major 3-year-old contests come the spring, and given that he hails from the famous Hips Don’t Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky {USA}) family that counts the likes of Coolmore stallion Acrobat and this year’s leading juvenile filly Learning To Fly (Justify {USA}) as members, the stallion dream will well and truly be alive should he handle the step up in grade successfully.
Ozzmosis won the 2YO H. at Randwick on Saturday, June 10 | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“We have to think about it carefully,” Darby said when considering a potential spring target for Ozzmosis. “I’d say it’ll be either the Golden Rose or we’ll wait and target the Coolmore Stud Stakes.
“The turnaround for the Golden Rose is pretty short, so if we went that way he’d only get a few weeks in the paddock.
“We’re very mindful that he’s got an extremely good pedigree and he profiles well for a future stallion prospect if he can win the right races, so we’ll focus on the spring now.”
Driving home the double
Another of Darby Racing’s progressive young horses, Iowna Merc (Winning Rupert), also has spring riches in his sights after successfully backing up his recent first-up win with yet another hard-fought victory at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
Just like his stablemate Ozzmosis, Iowna Merc claimed the scalp of another highly touted Waterhouse-Bott runner in the shape of Kibou (Maurice {Jpn}), who had beaten subsequent G1 Caulfield Guineas winner Golden Mile (Astern) on his last outing in the G3 Up And Coming S., albeit almost 10 months ago.
Iowna Merc has enjoyed a more humble start to life than his year younger stable companion, but such has been his progress since being gelded after his first preparation, Darby and Baker can afford to raise their sights once again with a first crack at stakes level now under consideration for the 3-year-old.
Iowna Merc (navy cap) won at Randwick on Saturday, June 10 | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“It’s quite an interesting story, I actually bred the horse,” Darby revealed. “I had the mare and a good client of mine bought him off me as a weanling and I sold the mare on.
“A year later he rang me and said, ‘Would you be able to syndicate him for me?’. He didn’t want a lot of money, he wanted to stay in the horse, so we syndicated him and he has been an absolute blessing.
“He’s a great money-spinner and we just don’t really know where his ceiling is. If you saw him physically you’d see that he’s still got plenty of improvement to come, but for a cheap horse he’s doing amazing things.
“He’s (Iowna Merc's) a great money-spinner and we just don’t really know where his ceiling is. If you saw him physically you’d see that he’s still got plenty of improvement to come, but for a cheap horse he’s doing amazing things.” - Scott Darby
“Whether Bjorn gives him another run this time in and then gives him a break before targeting something in the spring, I’m not sure, but at the moment he’s just getting better all the time.”
Despite being deemed not commercial enough to put through a sale, Iowna Merc left a favorable impression on Darby when he first laid eyes on him again as a yearling, so much so that the leading syndicator did not hesitate when the son of Grandview Stud stallion Winning Rupert was offered back to him.
“I do a little bit of breeding and I was selling a few mares and weanlings, trying to upgrade the stock, and we went up and saw him,” Darby added.
“The farm we had him at said, ‘Look, I probably wouldn’t put him through a sale, he probably won’t be commercial enough’, but myself and my offsider Mark Holland really liked him, he was a great moving horse. He wasn’t overly correct in front, but there was just something very athletic about him.
Winning Rupert | Standing at Grandview Stud
“So when he was offered back to us I sort of jumped at it. Winning Rupert wasn’t really doing the job at the time, but funnily enough, he is really starting to produce them and I think he had a double at Randwick on Saturday.
“I know he’s moved on from Newgate now, but he’s starting to kick some goals.”
Two of the best
Just like Darby’s two winners at Royal Randwick on Saturday, Winning Rupert was trained by Bjorn Baker, with whom Darby Racing have enjoyed a hugely successful relationship over the past decade, most recently courtesy of the inaugural $4 million The Quokka winner Overpass (Vancouver).
Following the recent departure of Mark Newnham to Hong Kong, Baker now trains more horses for the G1 Golden Slipper-winning syndicators than any other trainer, and Darby could hardly be more complimentary of the Kiwi horseman.
“Sometimes you just click with a trainer and that’s what it has been like with Bjorn,” he said.
“You see him getting interviewed and he’s quite the larrikin, but I can assure you when you spend as much time as I do with someone like him, you definitely see that underneath he’s a real thinker and a smart man.
“I would never let his interviews fool you over his ability to train a horse. He’s got determination, which I love, and it’s no wonder that he’s so high up in the premiership.”
“I would never let his (Bjorn Baker's) interviews fool you over his ability to train a horse. He’s got determination, which I love, and it’s no wonder that he’s so high up in the (training) premiership.” - Scott Darby
Better known for its ability to source elite talent, Darby is equally effusive in his praise for the China Horse Club operation, which bred both Ozzmosis and another of Darby’s highly regarded juveniles who has yet to make his racecourse debut.
“They’re such a big player in the game and they’ve had some amazing results, but the great thing is that they are sellers as well,” Darby said of China Horse Club.
“When you see an organisation like that having such success, you just think that they’re going to race the best ones and sell the worst, but they are actual sellers and they’re doing a great job.
“We bought another 2-year-old off them named Warrant, who if you looked at his form he’s actually run two lasts in trials, but I can assure you that he’s loaded with ability.
Darby Racing-owned Warrant (Russian Revolution) has shown ability for both trainers Mark Newnham and Michael Freedman | Image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan
“He pulled up crook from his first trial and went out for a while, and the other day he missed the start by about four or five lengths. He’s one of those horses that has nothing to show at this stage, but both Mark Newnham and now Michael Freedman have said he’s loaded with potential, so keep your eye out for him, even though he hasn’t shown it at the trials just yet.”
Having been bang on the money with Ozzmosis, consider yourselves warned.
