Saturday summary: Hard work pays off as Spicy Martini cinches up Stradbroke

Cover image courtesy of Inglis

Spicy Martini sizzles home to Stradbroke victory

It’s no easy task to pick out a Group 1 winner from a lineup of yearlings at a sale, but even harder still to do it when bidding on one online. Trainer Toby Edmonds has achieved that feat with Spicy Martini’s (Justify {USA}) scintillating victory in Saturday’s G1 Stradbroke Handicap at Eagle Farm.

The Heavy 8 track was well and truly chopped up by the time the 4-year-old daughter of former Coolmore shuttler Justify (USA) jumped from barrier 2 in the capacity field for the feature, having a second crack at the race after finishing down the field as a 3-year-old last year.

But between her featherweight impost of 51.5kg and a tactical ride from Taylor Marshall, the mare was able to hit the front with a furlong to run. At that stage, she was uncatchable, with only Sepals (Calyx {GB}) shooting through the field to make a challenge and ultimately arriving a length too late to catch her.

"It is very exciting,” said Edmonds. “Quite emotional, to be honest. Just a great effort from everyone involved. Most of all the horse. She's a beautiful horse.

“It's a really good effort. The last three months, we've been digging in and really working really hard and working hard on this mare. I've got to give mention to my farrier who works tirelessly on this mare. Taylor Marshall had a great ride, all my owners, they've all been fantastic and supported me the whole way through.

“And most of all, Spicy Martini, she's a star."

It was a maiden Group 1 win for Marshall, the son of the late Group 1-winning jockey John Marshall. He was left speechless by the magnitude of the win.

When he recovered his speech faculties, he said, “to be honest, I didn't know how I was going to react. I was choking up a little bit just pulling up there. What a thrill. I do just want to thank Toby (Edmonds) for placing faith in me and sticking solid because I've had a terrific affiliation with her. What a feeling!

“She's an absolute superstar. She’s so resilient for a mare. She goes on any surface, puts herself there. I think every jockey needs that one horse to sort of put them on the map, so to speak. I'm hoping that she's that one.”

Sales: Edmonds Racing purchased Spicy Martini for $8000 on Inglis Digital as a yearling from Coolmore Stud. She was due to be offered at the Inglis Chairman’s Sale this year, but was withdrawn.

Pedigree: Spicy Martini is the best of four winners out of Group performer Extra Olives (Redoute’s Choice), a granddaughter of Champion 3YO Filly Alinghi (Encosta De Lago) from a family featuring Beneteau and Extreme Warrior’s talented Listed winner Eternal Warrior.

Bjorn Baker Racing and Clarke Bloodstock (FBAA) had to dig a little deeper in their pockets to purchase Extra Olives’s Home Affairs filly at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale this year, outlying $350,000 for her. The late Extra Olives has a weanling filly by St Mark’s Basilica (Fr) as her final foal.

Dane Ripper has She’s Got Pizzazz on song for Tiara tilt

Well-related Zoustar 4-year-old She’s Got Pizzazz was another who defied the wet conditions at Eagle Farm to prevail in the G2 Dane Ripper Stakes, and now connections have set their sights on a G1 Tattersall’s Tiara tilt at the end of the month.

The Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman-trained mare had to grind her way to the front on a track she was not fond of, then fight it out valiantly to stay a head in front of Gerringong (Blue Point {Ire}) to emerge the winner.

“She loves her toe in, but today was at the limit,” said Moody. “You could see the wheels spinning at the 300 and it took her a while to flatten out.”

A drying track in the future will see the five-time winner take her second ever swing at a Group 1, after finishing at the tail of the field in last year’s G1 Robert Sangster Stakes.

“All roads lead to the Tiara,” Moody said. “That's been the plan all prep. She had a fall in the Melbourne spring and it took a couple of runs to build her confidence back, but those last three runs and here today, I think there's still a bit more to come.”

The victory was a second stakes win this preparation for She’s Got Pizzazz, who took out the Listed Silk Stocking Stakes two starts ago before running second in the Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes to Savagery Vibe (Brutal {NZ}). The latter was gallant in defeat when running third in Saturday’s Group 2.

Sales: She’s Got Pizzazz is a homebred for Rob Crabtree’s Dorrington Farm.

Pedigree: She’s Got Pizzazz is a full sister to G1 Canterbury Stakes winner Mizzy (Zoustar), and is one of four winners for Listed James HB Carr Stakes winner Missy Cummings (Magnus), a daughter of multiple stakes winner Lady Knockout (Serheed). Among Missy Cummings’s half-sisters is the dam of Listed Burgess Queen Stakes victress Laced Up Heels (Toronado {Ire}).

Lady Knockout's dam Prime Again (Marooned {GB}) won five stakes races headed by the G2 WATC Champion Fillies Stakes and was second in the G1 South Australian Oaks.

Missy Cummings’s 2-year-old Piazza (So You Think {NZ}) was a winner on debut last month for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr. She has a weanling filly by Ozzmosis and was served in the spring by Growing Empire.

Royal Supremacy goes wire to wire in Q22

It was never a question of ability with Royal Supremacy (Ire) (Make Believe {GB}) in the G2 Q22, but the 5-year-old import’s all the way win in the race still surprised a few in its style.

The Ciaron Maher-trained gelding went straight to the front from out wide and stayed there, with shades of the scratched Pride Of Jenni (Pride Of Dubai) to the daylight between him and his rivals behind him. The gelding sustained the effort gallantly until the line, with second place Pounding (Exceed And Excel) unable to get closer than a length and two thirds away.

“Great job,” said Maher. “He's thrived up here again. He's been at Tony Gollan's place and he's improved each start. There was no speed on paper when Pride Of Jenni came out and he can be a bit of a terror to ride, so after a little bit of deliberation before the race, we thought it would be better to work with him than fighting him for 2000 metres.

“We thought he would drag himself through it (the ground) because he can get on the bit. It is tough to make ground today so we thought, with no speed, they probably wouldn't worry about him too much and that is how it worked out."

Both Maher and winning jockey Mark Zahra head off for England on Saturday evening, so the win was a fitting send-off for the pair.

Sales: Now owned by Australian Bloodstock, Royal Supremacy was originally a 65,000 gns (AU$130,000) purchase from Ballylinch Stud for JS Bloodstock and Andrew Balding at the Tattersalls October Yearling Sale.

Pedigree: Royal Supremacy is a half-brother to Listed winner Adelaise (Ire) (Lawman {Fr}) out of juvenile winner Adelasia (Ire) (Iffraaj {GB}), who is herself a half-sister to German Group winners Fight Club (Ger) (Lavirco {Ger})) and Flambo (Ger) (Platini {Ger}).

She has a 2-year-old filly called La Suissesse (Ire) (Minzaal {Ire}), who sold through Ballylinch Stud's draft Tattersalls October Yearling Sale last year to Oceanic Bloodstock for 67,000 gns (AU$134,000).

Two miles too easy for Alalcance in Brisbane Cup

Alalcance’s (GB) (Mastercraftsman {Ire}) victory by a neck in the G3 BRC Premier’s Cup last start gave connections of the 6-year-old grey the confidence to step her up to the 3200 metres of the G2 Brisbane Cup, and the move paid off on Saturday when the mare defied her top weight of 59kg to leave her opposition in the mud.

With the blinkers taken off to give her a chance to settle down, Alalcance took up a midfield position for most of the run before beginning to click up in gear as the home turn started to loom. Once at the front of the pack, it was all over for her rivals, with the mare pulling away to hit the line with a margin of five lengths back to second.

It was a seventh career victory in just 19 starts for the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trainee, who were winning the race a fourth time as a partnership.

“She was great, wasn't she?,” said stable representative John Livingstone. “She has given them everything - weight, the start, everything. She wasn’t that good with the blinkers off today. Didn't jump the best. Tim (Clark) just bided his time. He's a great judge of pace. Then (they) went to the lead and it was all over.

“With the blinkers off today, it just took a little bit of time for her to get interested. She got into it at the right time off the back of a win last start. She's held her own today and (we are) really happy with the result.”

The mare has now earned a break in the Sunshine State while her trainers plot out a lucrative spring over the longer trips.

“I was just confident that her class would take her a long way,” jockey Tim Clark said. “She's very cleanwinded. A typical European, she only needed a couple of runs to get us to the mark. She was brilliant there today. I'm sure Gai and Adrian would be stoked, and Gai would be plotting a path to the first Tuesday in November.”

Sales: Alalcance was a 240,000gns (AU$489,900) purchase from the Tattersalls December Mare Sale for her trainers in partnership with McKeever Bloodstock.

Pedigree: Alalcance is the most prolific of five winners out of stakes-performed Albamara (GB) (Galileo {Ire}), who is herself a daughter of the champion stayer and blue hen mare Albanova (GB) (Alzao {USA}). Highlights amongst the close family include G1 Zabeel Classic winner Kingswood (GB) (Roaring Lion {USA}) and six-time Group 1-winning European champion mare Alpinista (GB) (Frankel {GB}).

Albamara’s more recent foal is a yearling colt by Study Of Man (Ire).

Skyhook adds Gunsynd to impressive resume

The talented Skyhook (Written Tycoon) was handpicked for a G1 Golden Slipper Stakes tilt, a race where he finished seventh, but Saturday’s victory in the G3 Gunsynd Classic served as a fresh reminder that he is much more than a 2-year-old.

The winner of the G3 Pago Pago Stakes and the Listed Rosebud, the colt bounced back into peak form in the G3 Hawkesbury Guineas two starts ago, before running second last start in the G3 Fred Best Classic. Jumping from the outside in Saturday’s mile event, the colt was sent forward to track the leaders and exploded in the final furlong to win by three lengths and a third for Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou.

"I'm not surprised the way he went,” Ryan said. “Tuesday morning at the Gold Coast, he worked sensational. I was thinking, ‘I hope he gets into the Stradbroke’, and when he ran here the other day, I was talking with a few of the owners and we thought we'd accept for the Stradbroke, but this is more our main aim and tick the box at running 1600 metres.

"He's done super well up here. He came up here on the Thursday before his last run and when he left he was 488 kilos, and last week with a float trip and the racing, he is 498. He's enjoyed the two and a half weeks up here as much as I have.”

Missing out on a Stradbroke berth was bittersweet, but Ryan has the spring to look forward to now.

"He'll go out now,” he said. “We'll aim for something in the spring with him, but we would have liked to get a run in the Stradbroke with the 51 kilos on his back, he'll never have that again.

"He's a good horse and he's still maturing. He'll be a better horse in the spring."

A host of lucrative options lie in front of Skyhook now he has proven himself out to the mile, including a tilt at something like the $10 million Golden Eagle.

Sales: Skyhook was a $575,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase for his trainers from the Arrowfield Stud draft, and belongs to a syndicate that includes Matthew Ennis of Stallion Match.

Pedigree: Skyhook is out of Madame Pauline (Redoute’s Choice), a winning half-sister to Anders, as well as Listed winners Ostraka (Pariah) and Caffe Florian (Snitzel) and the stakes performers Battleground (Snitzel) and Satin Love (Snitzel). Their dam Madame Andree is the only daughter of the talented but subfertile War Emblem (USA) in Australia.

Glee Lee Thoroughbreds offered Madame Pauline’s Dundeel (NZ) yearling colt at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale this year, where he was bought by Monarch Racing, Paul Moroney, and Catheryne Bruggeman for $120,000. She was covered by Castelvecchio last spring.