Cover image courtesy of Inglis
Race-day recap
A Heavy 9 track and a less than ideal jump from the barriers couldn't deter Tron Bolt (Toronado {Ire}) from grinding his way to victory in the G1 JJ Atkins Plate at Eagle Farm.
Cool Gent (Winning Rupert) arrived just in time to win the Listed Oxlade Stakes for Shane and Adam Barling and become his sire's first juvenile stakes winner.
A five-day back up had Marwooba (Wootton Bassett {GB}) poised to break through at start number four at Rosehill Gardens.
Connections of Old Fashioned (NZ) will resist pressing on to winter black-type after the Proisir colt won impressively on debut at Wanganui.
Rule The Night added individual winner number eight to Wild Ruler's record when emerging victorious at the Gold Coast for Matthew Hoystead.
Class prevails for Tron Bolt in wet JJ Atkins
James McDonald was vindicated for his decision to not jump off of exciting Toronado (Ire) colt Tron Bolt for the G1 JJ Atkins Plate when the colt defied a sucking Heavy 9 track at Eagle Farm on Saturday to clinch the 2026 edition of the race.
Despite a less than perfect exit from the barriers that saw the colt in the latter half of the field as the 1600-metre feature got underway, McDonald guided the colt forward to catch up to Cormier (Maurice {Jpn}). The latter dug deep to stay ahead, but Tron Bolt dug deeper still, grinding his opposition down to win by a shade under a length, with stablemate Stormy Marc (Wootton Bassett {GB}) storming home for third for the same connections.
Trainer Chris Waller last won the race for the same connections, Hermitage Thoroughbreds, when training The Autumn Sun to win the race in 2018.
The victory was a landmark win on several levels for McDonald, taking his record to 141, but also extending his tally for the season to a new high water mark of 17.
"I feel very humbled and privileged to be in this position," McDonald said. "To ride horses like that who give me great rides, I thought he was exceptional today. It is nice to stand alone."
" I thought he (Tron Bolt) was exceptional today." - James McDonald
"It's the race that we pick out from a long way out," said Waller. "It's an integral part of the Queensland Winter Carnival, it's been a massive stepping stone for a lot of our great horses, this race in particular. Even without winning it, Brazen Beau ran second, Zoustar ran second, they've come out to be multiple Group 1 winners and champion sires. It really is a neat race.
Tron Bolt winning the G1 JJ Atkins Plate | Image courtesy of Inglis
"He's a real cool dude. Nothing worries him. He really is a special horse for that reason and obviously he can run fast as well. But that attitude, that'll take him a long way. It is all class, and it shows he's not under pressure. He's having a pretty good day out."
"It is all class, and it shows he's (Tron Bolt) not under pressure." - Chris Waller
Waller has already pencilled in a few targets for the colt’s spring, headlined by the G1 Caulfield Guineas - a race also won by The Autumn Sun, who scored four Group 1 wins in his 3-year-old season.
"With (stud) values, you always try and win something shorter, like a Golden Rose at our home track," Waller said. "We try to use the Golden Rose as a stepping stone to either a Coolmore up the (Flemington) straight, but for this horse's example it would be more a Caulfield Guineas."
Sales: Tron Bolt was originally purchased by Hunter Lodge and Liam Ruddy for $250,000 from the Gilgai Farm draft at the 2025 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. He was then re-offered by Hunter's Lodge at the 2025 Inglis Ready2Race Sale, where Hermitage Thoroughbreds paid $900,000 for the son of Toronado.
Pedigree: Tron Bolt is the first foal out of Baccarat Baby (Casino Prince), whose eight victories include the G3 Sunshine Coast Guineas and the Listed Princess Stakes. She was purchased by Dermot Farrington on behalf of Gilgai at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale Spendthrift Dispersal for $900,000.
Baccarat Baby a three-quarter-sister to the Group 2 and Listed winner Philia (All Too Hard), who sold at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale to Katsumi Yoshida for $1.4 million, and a half-sister to the triple Group 1 winner Duais (Shamus Award). This is also the extended family of the very successful stallions Flying Spur and Encosta De Lago.
Baccarat Baby has most recently left a Toronado yearling colt, who was a $110,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast National Weanling Sale purchase last year for Headline Thoroughbreds. She has yet to produce another live foal.
Gent keeps his Cool to win Oxlade
The market had all but ignored Winning Rupert gelding Cool Gent ahead of Saturday’s Listed Oxlade Stakes at Eagle Farm, but those that did jump aboard when the Shane and Adam Barling-trained gelding was paying $31 were well rewarded when he arrived on time to win by three quarters of a length.
Jumping from the outside barrier, the gelding was taken back by jockey Tyler Schiller and drifted as far back as five lengths off the leader during the run until the field turned for home. The track finally caught leader Run Like A Girl (Supido) within the final 300 metres and Cool Gent got his chance, weaving to the front to win, with well-favoured Marffiano (Home Affairs) in second.
The gelding had been a winner two starts beforehand at the Sunshine Coast, and the hard work behind the scenes paid off to secure his stakes win - a first juvenile black-type win for progeny of Westbury Park Stud’s Winning Rupert.
“He's a horse that's had a lot of ability,” said Adam Barling. “With the prices today that came up, he does do a little but wrong in the barriers, getting out and so forth. We've done a lot of work to try and rectify that. I put my head down when the gates opened and he still knows how to get the job done.
"He's (Cool Gent) a horse that's had a lot of ability." - Adam Barling
“I bought him at the Magic Millions. Liam Birchley let me pick him out and we purchased him for $9000. Can't thank him enough. He's a master of babies and he has helped us so much through this process."
Schiller said the winning feeling was “unreal”, particularly given it was a pick up ride for the jockey.
Cool Gent winning the Listed Oxlade Stakes | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
“Yesterday at lunchtime they rang my manager and asked if I could ride,” he said. “You don't think an outsider in the field could be a winning chance, but I was going to be here all day so I thought I may as well take the ride.
"He's done a terrific job." - Tyler Schiller
“Geez, he's done a terrific job, the horse, and the team back at home to get him here.”
Sales: Adam Barling picked up Cool Gent for just $9000 from Marlou Park’s Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale last year.
Pedigree: Cool Gent is the first stakes winner for winning Not A Single Doubt mare Snip Me Not, but not her first stakes performer - that goes to Listed Phelan Ready Stakes runner-up Butwedid (Performer). The family features horses like G2 Tulloch Stakes winners Hermod (Planet Kingdom) and Lease (Quest For Fame {GB}).
Snip Me Not delivered a filly by Red Resistance in the spring. Cool Gent is the seventh career stakes winner for Winning Rupert.
Connections of Cool Gent after winning the Listed Oxlade Stakes | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Marwooba gets off the canvas at Rosehill
The five-day backup and a couple of key gear changes had Hawkes Racing-trained Marwooba (Wootton Bassett {GB}) coiled to strike in the opener on the Rosehill Gardens card on Saturday. Running sixth on Monday at Canterbury, the gelding reloaded and found a path through the field once in the home straight, before gunning down antepost favourite Friendly Fire (Farnan) to win by over a length.
Stable representative Steve Thompson described Monday’s run as “just like a track gallop” for the gelding, who was entered in Saturday’s race when insufficient nominations led to entries being extended.
“He's a good horse with a good constitution, so we elected to see how he pulled up during the week and he pulled up super,” Thompson said.
"He's (Marwooba) a good horse with a good constitution." - Steve Thompson
“First thing Tyler (Schiller) said after he rode him on Monday was that he's looking for 1400 metres and a little bit of headgear, so we elected to put the winkers on and cross over.”
The tinkering - and the fitness run - worked wonders, with the gelding picking up over $112,000 in prize money in just four starts.
Marwoomba winning at Randwick | Image courtesy of Georgia Young Photography
Sales: Hawkes Racing purchased Marwooba for $400,000 from Yarraman Park Stud at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Pedigree: Marwooba is the first foal out of Marguns (Fastnet Rock), an unraced full sister to Listed-performed Italia Bella, herself the dam of Listed Singapore 3YO Classic winner Lim’s Bighorn (Better Than Ready). Second dam Pear Tart (Dehere {USA}) won the G1 Tattersall’s Tiara and the G2 Queensland Guineas.
Marguns delivered a Toronado filly the year after Marwooba, who passed in at the Gold Coast earlier this year. The mare has since passed away.
Marwoomba as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Big spring targets beckon for Old Fashioned after Wanganui win
There is the temptation to crack on with a winter campaign for connections of Old Fashioned (NZ) (Proisir) after the colt took out the opening event at Wanganui on Saturday, but trainers Bill Thurlow and Sam O’Malley have opted to put him away and focus on bigger targets in the spring.
The colt was on debut for Thurlow and O’Malley, and his owner breeders the Goodson & Perron Family Trust, and he shot out of the gates to take the pace-making spot. Sword Of Steel (NZ) (Sword Of State) soon joined him up front, but Old Fashioned was not to be beaten, fending off the challenger to win by a length and a half on the line, with a further two lengths back to third.
Old Fashioned (NZ) winning at Wanganui | Image courtesy of Peter Rubery (Race Images)
“He has shown us a lot from day one,” Thurlow said. “You don’t like to say too much before raceday, but at home we were quietly confident.
"You don’t like to say too much before raceday, but at home we were quietly confident." - Bill Thurlow
“He is still pretty raw. He has had a jumpout and a trial and he is up against some horses that have done a lot more than that. He is only going to learn from that and the way he drew out in that last bit was very encouraging.”
Otaki will feature two juvenile sprint targets next month, but Thurlow confirmed the colt would go to the paddock in favour of a lucrative spring.
Bill Thurlow | Image courtesy of Race Images
“We are one and out, that was always the plan, win, lose, or draw,” he said. “He will go to the paddock today for a month or so and he will come back and we will aim for some better stuff in the spring as a 3-year-old.”
"We are one and out, that was always the plan, win, lose, or draw." - Bill Thurlow
Sales: Old Fashioned is a homebred for the Goodson & Perron Family Trust. He was offered at the 2025 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale and passed in.
Pedigree: Old Fashioned is the first winner for winning Rip Van Winkle (Ire) mare Contrary Mare (NZ), a half-sister to Group performer Time Lord (NZ) (Guillotine {NZ}). The family traces to terrifically influential Northern Dancer (Can) mare Royal Statute (USA), whose high flying descendants include last year’s USA Champion Turf Female She Feels Pretty (USA) (Karakontie {Jpn}), USA Champion Turf Male and Darley stallion Modern Games (Ire), and Golden Sixty (Medaglia D’Oro {USA}).
Contrary Mary has a Hello Youmzain (Fr) yearling and weanling to follow, and visited Sword Of State in 2025.
Rule The Night reigns supreme at the Gold Coast
First season sire Wild Ruler scored his eighth individual winner on Saturday at the Aquis Park Gold Coast meeting, where Rule The Night went one better at start number two to win for Matthew Hoystead.
The Proven Thoroughbreds-owned Rule The Night was second on debut at Doomben last month, and clearly improved for the effort. Despite jumping from the outside barrier in a field of 10, the gelding fought his way through the wet and wound in the leader Elevating (Russian Revolution) to win by a third of a length, with four lengths back to Zou Zou Kapadokia (Lean Mean Machine) in third.
Video: Watch race replay of Rule The Night, video courtesy of Racing QLD
The victory takes Wild Ruler to second place in the first season sire charts by winners, one behind Champion First Season Sire elect Home Affairs.
Sales: Bred by Nick Vass, Rule The Night was offered at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale by Newgate Farm, where he was bought by Proven Thoroughbreds and Matt Hoysted Racing for $80,000.
Pedigree: Rule The Night is the second winner from two runners out of Taylor’s Dream (Rubick), a half-sister to G2 Silver Shadow Stakes winner Swift Witness (Star Witness) and stakes-performed Terminology (Star Witness).
Rule The Night as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Second dam Taylor’s Command (Commands) is a half-sister to G2 Queen Of The South Stakes victress So Pristine (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) and Listed Queen Elizabeth II Cup winner Restored (NZ) (Red Ransom {USA}), as well as the dam of New Zealand Filly Of The Year Dijon Bleu (NZ) (Burgundy {NZ}).
Taylor’s Dream delivered a colt by In The Congo last spring before visiting Auguste Rodin (Ire).
