Looking Ahead puts the spotlight on runners of interest across Australia and New Zealand. Whether they are a particularly well-bred or high-priced runner having their first or second start, a promising galloper returning to the track or a horse which has trialled particularly well, we’ll aim to give you something to follow.
Thursday at Hawkesbury, we look at a Maurice (Jpn) gelding from a half-sister to a pair of Group 1 winners, while at Bendigo, we look at a colt whose dam is a half-sister to the Zoustar siblings Sunlight and Sisstar.
Hawkesbury, Race 1, 12.10pm AEST, Godolphin Family Funday 9 July 3YO Mdn, $40,000, 1400m
Maurizio Run, 3-year-old gelding (Maurice {Jpn} x Presslist {Librettist {USA}})
This unraced gelding was bred and is owned by prominent identity Tony Muollo from a family he knows well. Muollo owns the first dam, Presslist, who is a half-sister to the Group 1 winners Press Statement and Press Day (Domesday).
The second dam on this is page Kaaptive Empress (Kaaptive Edition {NZ}), and she in turn was a daughter of Nile Empress (USA) (Upper Nile {USA}), whose descendants include the Grosvenor (NZ) Group 1 winner The Mighty Lions (NZ) and her Group 3-winning daughter Vaquera (High Chaparral {Ire}).
Maurice (Jpn) | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Maurizio Run was bred in 2019 by Muollo and retained to race. He is in the Hawkesbury stable of Alexandre Lemarie and was recently gelded heading into this debut. He was last in a first trial appearance on May 22, but he has improved vastly since that, winning a trial at home on June 19. He comes into this debut with jockey Grant Buckley and barrier five.
Bendigo, Race 4, 2pm AEST, Workforce Extensions Mdn, $37,500, 1400m
Becquerel, 2-year-old colt (The Autumn Sun x Solar Girl {Lonhro})
This is a very recognisable family. Becquerel is from the Lonhro mare Solar Girl, who is a half-sister to the Champion filly Sunlight and her full sibling Sisstar, Sunlight was a Champion 3-Year-Old in Australia, and her offspring have sold as such since hitting commercial markets. Becquerel is the second foal from his dam, bred by Sheikh Mohammed bin Khalifa Al Maktoum.
The colt was consigned by Segenhoe Stud to the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he was sold for $400,000 to McEvoy Mitchell Racing and Belmont Bloodstock (FBAA). He immediately followed the sale of the $3 million-selling Kandinsky Abstract (Zoustar), a full brother to Sunlight and Sisstar.
Becquerel as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
Becquerel is trained at Ballarat by Tony and Calvin McEvoy, and he was eighth in a debut trial early this year. It was his first preparation, and since then he has returned to be competitive in jump-outs, winning his last over 850 metres on June 15. In this debut, he will have jockey Harry Coffey from barrier two.
Looking Back
Our Looking Ahead selections on Wednesday went fairly well. At Warwick Farm, I Am Famous (I Am Invincible) was third and Marenaro (Dundeel {NZ}) was unplaced. At Eagle Farm, Denote (Justify {USA}) was second.
