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.
Friday at Goulburn, we look at the debut of the $1.4 million colt Casablanca (Snitzel), a son of Rising Romance (NZ) (Ekraar {USA}), along with the debut of a half-sister to Slipper winner Mossfun (Mossman). At Mornington, we’ve got another well-pedigreed debut with a half-brother to Starspangledbanner.
Goulburn, Race 5, 3.40pm AEST, Tash Burleigh Racing Mdn, $27,000, 1300m
Casablanca, 3-year-old colt (Snitzel x Rising Romance {NZ} {Ekraar {USA}})
In this race, Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou will launch the career of this expensive colt after several trials this year. Casablanca first appeared in February, but he was put away until August and has come back the better for it, running second in a barrier trial on August 11. He was unplaced in his most recent outing. However, he has drawn favourably for this debut (barrier one) with jockey Ryan Maloney.
At the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Casablanca was consigned by Arrowfield Stud and sold to TFI and Kia Ora Stud for $1.4 million.
Casablanca as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
He is a son of the brilliant G1 Australian Oaks winner Rising Romance (NZ), who was also a Group 2 winner and multiple times placed in Group 1 company. She is also a prolific producer, with Casablanca a full brother to Arrowfield’s G1 Thousand Guineas winner Yearning (Snitzel). This is a serious pedigree and this debut will be hotly watched.
Goulburn, Race 6, 4.15pm AEST, Goulburn Express Freight Super Mdn, $50,000, 1200m
Audrey’s Lane, 3-year-old filly (Pierro x Eye For Fun {Snitzel})
This filly is well-bred as the sixth foal from the Snitzel mare Eye For Fun. She is a half-sister to the Golden Slipper winner Mossfun, and also a half-sister to Aramco (Magic Albert), Singapore’s Champion sprinter in 2019. Eye For Fun herself is a half-sister to Cat D’Antibes (Tale Of The Cat {USA}), who was a stakes winner and the grandam of stakes winners Eximus (Exceed And Excel) and Hostwin Achilles (Deep Field).
Audrey’s Lane was consigned to the 2021 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale by Fairview Park Stud and passed in with a reserve of $500,000.
Audrey's Lane as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
She was retained and is trained by the Hawkesbury-based Brad Widdup, for whom she’s been trialling throughout the year. She hasn’t produced any barrier-trial results, being well-beaten in each. However, she has a big pedigree and in this debut she will have jockey Alysha Collett from barrier four.
Mornington, Race 3, 2.30pm AEST, Become a Mornington Member Plate, $27,000, 1200m
Too Much Gold, 3-year-old colt (The Autumn Sun x Gold Anthem {Made Of Gold {USA}})
This colt will debut in the colours of Tony Santic’s Makybe Racing and Breeding. By The Autumn Sun, he is a son of the prolific producer Gold Anthem and, as such, a half-brother to Starspangledbanner. He is also a half-brother to the stakes-placed pair of Barood (Choisir) and Gold Chant (El Moxie {USA}), the latter the dam of the G1 Thousand Guineas winner Amicus (Fastnet Rock).
Too Much Gold was consigned by Two Bays Farm to the 2022 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, where he was bought by trainer Matt Laurie for $200,000. He is well-named, looking in the chestnut mould of his famous half-brother.
Too Much Gold as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
The colt is trained by Laurie at Mornington and, in this debut, he will be ridden by Jamie Kah from barrier five. He’s had numerous jump-outs heading into it, in the latest of which he was first over 1100 metres. That occurred on August 23.
Looking Back
Our Looking Ahead selections on Thursday went only fairly. At Hawkesbury, General Sensei (The Autumn Sun) was a scratching, while Battle Of Vienna (Capitalist) was second. At Cranbourne, Pure Thoughts (So You Think {NZ}) was unplaced.
