Cover image courtesy of Trackside Photography
Torque To Be Sure has eyes set on the JJ Atkins
The final juvenile Group 1 of the season looms with Saturday’s G1 JJ Atkins Plate, and trainer Matthew Dunn is hoping that current Soft 5 of the Eagle Farm track will provide clear running for his promising 2-year-old colt Torque To Be Sure (Shamus Award), after visibility issues impacted both horse and jockey during the G2 BRC Sires’ Produce Stakes, run in atrocious conditions two weeks ago.
“The jockey said he couldn't see, so I would assume the horse probably couldn't see either,” Dunn told media earlier in the week. “The horse didn't have any goggles on his head like the jockey did, so he was probably in a worse spot than the jockey.
“The horse took the brunt of the kickback and the conditions that day, especially considering he was in a horrible spot two lengths behind the second-last horse during the race. I was worried about the wet track, but he handled it well.”
Torque To Be Sure | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Despite the conditions, Torque To Be Sure produced a huge effort, storming home from last at both the 800-metre and 400-metre marks to finish a fast-closing fifth.
“I'm sure that, watching the race, if you were looking for something going to a mile next start, he was the pick. He was out the back door getting hit in the head by kickback and couldn't see where he was going, but he still launched late.”
“If you were looking for something going to a mile next start, he (Torque To Be Sure) was the pick.” - Matthew Dunn
Dunn lamented the colt's maiden status but acknowledged the strength of opposition faced so far.
“I wish he wasn't a maiden, but he shouldn't be, should he? In reality, he has run well enough to have won probably three of his starts. Because of the path we have taken with him, we have been forced to race him against better quality horses right through. It would have been lovely to take him to a maiden plate in the Northern Rivers and just let him blow them away.
“It would have been lovely to take him (Torque To Be Sure) to a maiden plate in the Northern Rivers and just let him blow them away.” - Matthew Dunn
“If he could win on Saturday, it would be enormous for Ian (Corazzol) who has been a huge supporter of mine. His wife passed away six weeks ago and that was a really difficult experience for him.”
Matthew Dunn | Image courtesy of Sportpix
Cool Archie (Cool Az A Beel {NZ}) justifiably leads the JJ Atkins betting currently, but there will be a great deal of attention on Aerodrome (Ole Kirk) and Providence (Wootton Bassett {GB}), whose sires are currently battling it out for the Champion First Season Sire title. Wootton Bassett needs the $600,000 first prize to pull ahead of Vinery Stud supremo Ole Kirk.
Can Lindsay Park break their Stradbroke hoodoo?
Co-trainer Ben Hayes believes this could be the year Lindsay Park finally breaks through in Queensland’s most famous race, the G1 Stradbroke Handicap.
From the Colin Hayes era, through to David Hayes, Peter Hayes, and Tony McEvoy’s Lindsay Park stint - and now Ben, Will, and JD Hayes - the Stradbroke has proven elusive. But this year, the team saddle two strong chances with race favourite War Machine (Harry Angel {Ire}) and emerging talent Rise At Dawn (Almanzor {Fr})
Gallery: Lindsay Park's two contenders for the G1 Stradbroke Handicap
“It is a race that has eluded us,” Ben Hayes said earlier this week. “We (the Hayes brothers) had our first runner last year and he (Here To Shock) unfortunately didn't go as well as we had hoped. But I think this year we've got the best hand we've ever had, and hopefully with a couple of nice draws there, we should get every chance.”
“I think this year we've got the best hand we've ever had.” - Ben Hayes
Hayes was upbeat following the barrier draw, with War Machine landing 13 and Rise At Dawn drawing ideally in 3.
“I don't actually mind barrier 13, it gives Tim Clark more options,” he said. “There will be a lot of horses crossing from out wide, so he should be able to get into that three-wide line and get a nice run in transit.”
Hayes also warned not to underestimate Rise At Dawn.
Ben Hayes | Image courtesy of The Hong Kong Jockey Club
“He gets a big drop in weight and he was bouncing this morning,” he said. "We are confident he can run really well and barrier three gives him an opportunity to have a great run. From weight-for-age last week to a handicap, it’s a big difference, and he gets a big drop in the weights with 52 and a half kilos.
“He’s come through his run in good order and we’re confident he can run really well. We haven’t backed him up before, so we’re learning, but he’s definitely a danger, not only to War Machine, but all the others in the race.”
“He’s (Rise At Dawn) definitely a danger, not only to War Machine, but all the others in the race.” - Ben Hayes
Outside of the Lindsay Park runners, this year’s Stradbroke shapes as a wide-open affair. Evergreen Front Page (Magnus) brings Group 2-winning form, Rob Heathcote's warrior Rothfire (Rothesay) looms despite injury concerns, and the in form The Instructor (Russian Revolution) emerges as a genuine chance.
Snitzel's latest stakeswinner Transatlantic gets the chance to snap up a Group 1 win, gaining a start on Friday morning.
Can Fawkner Park go back-to-back in the Q22?
Trainer Annabel Archibald has made the G2 Q22 Stakes her own in recent years, winning three of the past four editions with Zaaki (GB) (Leroidesanimaux {Brz}), Numerian (Ire) (Holy Roman Emperor {Ire}), and Fawkner Park (Ire) (Zoffany {Ire}) last year.
Now training in partnership with husband Rob, Archibald is chasing back-to-back Q22 wins with Fawkner Park, who brings excellent lead-in form, having finished second to Antino (NZ) (Redwood {GB}) in both the G1 Doomben Cup and the G2 Hollindale Stakes.
Fawkner Park (Ire) | Image courtesy of Sportpix
The stable also saddles Bois D’Argent (GB) (Toronado {Ire}), who was third in last year’s Q22 and won the G3 JRA Plate at Randwick just three starts ago.
“It’s been kind to us, the race,” Archibald said. “Zaaki won the first running of the race, and then Numerian won it and obviously Fawkner Park last year. Being our home track and a race with a big purse, it is obviously a race that we target.”
Reflecting on last year’s Q22, where Fawkner Park beat Knight’s Choice (Extreme Choice) and Bois D’Argent, Archibald noted the strength of the form: “It ended up being a strong form race in the end, and he was building to that. His run in the Doomben Cup showed he was building up to that as he was storming late and put the writing on the wall that the further we went the better, he was going to be.
Annabel Archibald | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“The step up to 2200 metres really suits, and he is often a horse that gets dealt bad barriers, but I suppose his running style tends to favour a strong tempo and running down his opposition. He’s a good chaser. Tempo was very strong the other day and Antino was far too good, but he beat the rest. Without Antino here, it looks like a race he can win if he can reproduce his last run.
“Without Antino here, it looks like a race he (Fawkner Park) can win if he can reproduce his last run.” - Annabel Archibald
“He worked very well, he looks great, and I’m looking forward to getting him back to Eagle Farm on a big track that he suits.”
The Q22 has become a key Melbourne Cup form race; Without A Fight (Ire) (Teofilo {Ire}) completed the double in 2023, and Knight’s Choice placed in last year’s Q22 before Cup glory. Could lightning strike again?
Waller focused on Dane Ripper assault
With G2 Millie Fox winner Firestorm (NZ) (Satono Aladdin {Jpn}) withdrawn from the G1 Stradbroke Handicap, Chris Waller will have a four-strong hand in the G2 Dane Ripper Stakes on Saturday. Since 2012, he has won the event on five occasions - including last year with C’Est Magique (Zoustar) - and curiously he has twice produced a top flight mare to win the event back to back.
With C’Est Magique in the breeding barn this year - due in early August to Snitzel - Waller’s chances lie with Firestorm, Konasana (Dundeel {NZ}), who is first up since returning from a successful Kiwi raid in the early autumn, Olentia (Zoustar), and recent stable addition Gumdrops (Written Tycoon), who rattled home for fourth in a 1110-metre benchmark event at Doomben three weeks ago.
Firestorm (NZ) | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“She (Firestorm) is good fresh, and she has won a Group 2 over 1300 metres and run second in a Coolmore (Classic) beaten a nose,” Waller said earlier in the week. “My gut tells me, leave the Stradbroke, run her in the Dane Ripper and that will have her peaking for the Tatt’s Tiara in two weeks.”
“Run her (Firestorm) in the Dane Ripper and that will have her peaking for the Tatt’s Tiara in two weeks.” - Chris Waller
Much of the field will likely return for the last Group 1 of the racing season at the end of June, often to mixed results; C’Est Magique finished four and a half lengths off the winner in last year’s G1 Tattersall’s Tiara, and 2023 Dane Ripper winner Comrade Rosa (Capitalist), who returns for another tilt this year, finished 12th.
Chris Waller | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
Waller produced the last Ripper-Tatt’s double in 2019 with Invincibella (I Am Invincible) - but 2022 Ripper victress Palaisipan (So You Think {NZ}) managed to snatch the crown a year later, using a Stradbroke fourth placing as her springboard to a Group 1 win.
Cummings tinkers with gear on well-bred colt
James Cummings may have just announced he's joing Hong Kong's training ranks, but it’s business as usual this weekend for the Blue Army captain, whose contract doesn’t expire for another six weeks.
He sends out four juveniles across three states on Saturday; Victorian-based colts Demarcate (Brazen Beau) and Bayou Music (Street Boss {USA}) bid to break their maidens, while last start city winner Zebra Finch (Exceed And Excel) will attempt to extend Cummings’ Group 1 record to 53 when starting the G1 JJ Atkins Plate.
James Cummings | Image courtesy of Sportpix
At Rosehill Gardens, Cummings has had to reach deep into his tool box and dust off a piece of seldom utilised gear to get the best out of last start winner Crocodile (Ghaiyyath {Ire}).
“Eight weeks ago he was really testing (our) patience at trackwork and he’s bit by bit gotten better and better,’’ Cummings told Racing NSW on Thursday, referencing the application of a noseroll to the juvenile’s gear. “We discussed different ways to get the horse to use himself better than he was. We tried a few things, things he liked and things he didn’t like, but that noseroll sits on nicely.
“One day he might not need it, but we’re comfortable to keep him in the routine of using it and we’re pretty pleased that he’s trained on nicely.”
The half-brother to dual Group 2 winner Character (Teofilo {Ire}) takes the leap to city grade from a Hawkesbury maiden, where he thrashed the field by over three lengths on a Heavy 10, and Cummings believes it’s well within his capabilities.
Character | Image courtesy of Sportpix
“I like that he came through (his debut) race. It’s been very reliable form and I’d say he’s one of a couple of horses there coming into this as lightly raced, late maturing 2-year-olds. It’s another step up again and it’s going to be a good test of the horse.”
“It’s another step up again and it’s going to be a good test of the horse.” - James Cummings
Zebrafinch, a half-colt to another Teofilo (Ire) stakeswinner in G3 Adrian Knox Stakes victress Honeycreeper, heads north off of a confidence-boosting city win over fellow JJ Atkins runners Zoutanium (Zoustar) and Hidden Achievement (I Am Invincible). A rejuvenated Golden Mile (Astern), third in the G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup last start, will offer Cummings another Group 1 shot in the G1 Stradbroke Handicap later in the day.
