Saturday preview: Russian Revolution well-armed for Missile Stakes with two-pronged attack

Cover image courtesy of Newgate Farm

Russian Revolution takes aim with Brudenell and General Salute

Newgate Farm’s stallion Russian Revolution could be off to a strong start this season, with a promising shot at early Group 2 success in the G2 Missile Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.

Following the Friday morning scratching of the Joseph Pride-trained Private Eye (Al Maher), even more attention has been given to the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou-trained General Salute (Russian Revolution), who holds favouritism. Sitting close behind in the market is the Kris Lees-trained Brudenell (Russian Revolution), currently rated third favourite for the feature sprint.

A winner of the G3 Star Kingdom Stakes at Rosehill on 1 April, General Salute also impressed when finishing a fast-closing third in the G3 Healy Stakes at Eagle Farm in late June, a run that suggested even more to come.

“He hasn’t been exposed to a heavy but his soft track form is pretty neat,” Alexiou told Racing NSW earlier in the week.

“He’s going very well, if anything, I think he’s going better than leading into that race at Eagle Farm.

“He got back that day, and I think he just got back too far with how the track was playing. It was just where he was drawn and how the race panned out, but I thought the run had plenty of merit. He seems a bit tighter in terms of his fitness so he shapes up well. I couldn’t imagine he would do anything but run really well.”

General Salute tuned up for his first-up run with a solid second in a Rosehill trial on 29 July behind Spring Lee (Zoustar).

“I was really happy with his trial leading into the Missile, he settled well and looked well balanced,” Alexiou added.

“When Tim (Clark) asked him at the 200m, I thought he quickened up well, albeit the winner of the trial was off and gone.”

Jockey Dylan Gibbons is equally upbeat about his ride aboard Brudenell, a horse he knows better than most.

“I’ve been lucky to win on a couple of horses four times but I’ve won on him five times,” Gibbons told Racing NSW on Friday.

“I won his maiden on him at Port Macquarie, and we went through the grades together pretty much.

“He’s not changed. Early days we thought he went well, he went to Port Macquarie as a late 2-year-old and took on the older horses and barely got out of first gear.

“Every time we thought he’s reached his mark, he’s managed to keep going up a level. Kris has done a remarkable job with him to win as many races as he has and collect the prizemoney he has.”

Gibbons was particularly buoyed by Brudenell’s recent trial win at Gosford on 23 July, and believes the timing may be perfect, especially with key runners like Private Eye and Encap (Capitalist) likely out due to the heavy track conditions.

Video: Brudenell winning replay at Gosford, video courtesy of Racing NSW

“It’s an opportunity for him to win a Group 2 race which they probably never dreamed of with him,” Gibbons said.

“His trial the other day was the best I’ve felt and I think it’s the best he’s ever gone, so the race has come around at the right time. He jumps, he travels on speed, there’s not much of him, but he’s a little bulldog and you know you’re going to get 110 per cent out of him every time.

“I’m always confident with him. I couldn’t tell you the last time he ran a bad race.”

Beyond the two Russian Revolution’s, Robusto (Churchill {Ire}) adds interest and comes off an impressive win last start at Listed level with 60kg, while With Your Blessing (NZ) (Vadamos {Fr}) could be the upsetter in testing conditions, having proven effective on heavy tracks in the past.

Can Is It Me claim the Behemoth on the way to Group 1 targets?

Warrnambool trainer Daniel Bowman has long held the belief that his 6-year-old gelding Is It Me (Iffraaj {GB}) has the talent to win at the elite level, and he’s hoping that Saturday’s Group 3 Behemoth Stakes at Morphettville will be the first step towards that goal this spring.

Bowman has targeted the Behemoth Stakes as Is It Me’s first-up assignment, with Dean Yendall taking the reins. The gelding has a strong fresh record, having won once and placed in four of his previous five first-up runs.

While Saturday's Group 3 test is significant, Bowman has a bigger prize in his sights, the G1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield on 20 September.

It's a distance Is It Me has already proven himself over, having won three consecutive races at Flemington last preparation, including the G3 Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap. Those performances finally showed what Bowman had long believed, the horse has genuine Group-class ability, even if he hasn’t always made things easy for himself.

“After his second start I said to my good mate Mitch Freedman that this horse will win a Group One,” Bowman told media earlier in the week.

“I used a few strong words in saying it, but he has always showed that he had it, he just had to mature and work it out.

“His racing craft was terrible, and he was doing everything on raw ability early. It probably wasn’t until the last prep we figured it out, and it really helped getting Billy Egan on.”

Bowman also found that giving Is It Me three or four-week gaps between runs brought out his best.

“He throws too much into his races and he needs more time to recover, plus he started racing more tractably on all surfaces,” he said.

“Now he is showing the sorts of ratings I thought he had in him.”

With Billy Egan sidelined by injury, the decision to engage Dean Yendall may prove to be a long-term win, particularly with the Rupert Clarke Stakes on the horizon.

“With the Rupert Clarke, he’s likely to get a weight a bit lighter, and too light for Billy, so we saw Saturday as an opportunity, with Dean being a natural lightweight, that he could have a feel of the horse,” Bowman said.

“All being well after Saturday, then he’ll go three weeks into the Memsie Stakes, and then three weeks into the Rupert Clarke.”

Drawing from past experience, Bowman sees the Memsie Stakes as a critical measuring stick.

“I found that when I had Begood Toya Mother, that if you can finish within three or four lengths of them in the Memsie, then it is a really good guide and form line going into the Rupert Clarke - and be a live chance.”

Saturday’s race, however, will be no walkover. Is It Me faces unbeaten up-and-comer Cicala (Tamasa), Group 1 winner Queman (Mint Lane {USA}), and consistent Group performer Recommendation (Shalaa {Ire}), all of whom warrant serious respect.

The well-bred Esha is ready to fly around 'The Valley'

One of the standout runners on pedigree across Australasia this Saturday is the superbly bred Esha - a daughter of boom sire Extreme Choice and 10-time winner I Am A Star (NZ) (I Am Invincible), who captured nine stakes races, including the Group 1 Myer Classic over a mile for trainer Shane Nichols.

This well-related filly was purchased for $900,000 by Kia Ora Stud and Shane Nichols Racing from the Newgate Farm draft at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, and she wasted no time making an impression, winning stylishly on debut over 1000 metres at Morphettville in May as a 2-year-old.

Saturday’s meeting at Moonee Valley could prove decisive for trainer Shane Nichols, who is assessing her readiness to take on tougher company and potentially what distance races he may target Esha at in the future.

“She's had two trials, she won them both fairly well,” Nichols told racing.com during the week.

“She ran good time at Caulfield, I'm not sure how the clocking works there, but they did have her going pretty quick. I think she's forward enough to run really well, she might plateau a bit late, but I'm pretty happy with how she's come up this preparation.”

Nichols believes The Valley will suit Esha's racing pattern.

“She's quick but the key to her is whether she gets out to 1200m, and then we can expand the races she can run in,” he said.

“We'll start her off at 1000m; I didn't feel she was quite seasoned enough to go to a race like the Quezette, but if she can run well Saturday, then we might lift the bar a little bit going forward.”

When asked whether he’d seen any similarities between the daughter and her Group 1-winning dam, Nichols laughed:

“Her mother won nine Group races! The only thing is, she's quite relaxed in the run and doesn't overdo it, so her mother had that trait, and she's pretty relaxed around the stable.

“That's the only similarity I can see at the moment, and neither of them were very big.”

Can Force Of Nature stay unbeaten at Te Rapa and head towards the Foxbridge?

The patiently handled, Andrew Forsman-trained runner Force Of Nature (NZ) (Savabeel) may have only broken his maiden at his fourth start, but he has been on a mission since, winning five of his last six starts and placing in a Premier Rating 75 race at the other.

Bred and raced by Milan Park principal Tony Rider, Force Of Nature has developed a clear affinity with Te Rapa, having won all five of his starts at the track, on surfaces ranging from a Good 4 to a Heavy 9 - the latter being the likely condition he’ll face again this Saturday.

If he extends his unbeaten Te Rapa record to six from six in Saturday's Dunstan Horsefeeds Open Handicap, a tilt at the NZ$150,000 G2 Waikato Stud Foxbridge Plate in two weeks could be on the cards.

Trainer Andrew Forsman has been pleased with the gelding’s progression and confirmed that, if he performs up to expectations, Force Of Nature could get his first shot at black type level and weight-for-age in the Foxbridge.

“He is running in really good form and he seems to love Te Rapa,” Forsman told loveracing.nz. “Each race brings stronger opposition, so hopefully he can keep stepping up.

“We would like to see him run really well this weekend to justify potentially pressing onto a Foxbridge Plate, and then if he measured up to weight-for-age company, then the other two races come into play.”

Those “other two races” are the Gr.1 Proisir Plate at Ellerslie and the G1 Howden Insurance Mile at Te Rapa, both scheduled for next month.

“It would be nice to get to that level,” Forsman said. “He is a little way off proving himself as a weight-for-age candidate yet, but I guess that will just be determined by his next start or two.”

If plans change, Forsman has another option up his sleeve. With his Flemington base, the 5-year-old gelding could be sent across the Tasman for suitable opportunities in Australia.

“He does seem a lot more comfortable left-handed,” he said. “If he is not quite at weight-for-age level at the moment, then there could be some nice handicap options for him in Melbourne.”