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Spring calling for unbeaten Emirate despite group 1 lure
By Chris Roots
Champion trainer Chris Waller will wait until the spring rather than chase the group 1 JJ Atkins in Brisbane with the unbeaten Emirate after another impressive victory at Rosehill on Saturday.
The Extreme Choice two-year-old, which was a $1 million yearling, put down a marker for the future before the Rosehill meeting was postponed after five races because of visibility and footing concerns in awful conditions.
Emirate (second from left) revels in the going at a gloomy Rosehill on Saturday.Credit: Getty
And although Emirate was made an $8 second favourite for the JJ Atkins, Waller believes he can be a player in the bigger races in the spring as he matures.
Josh Parr had Emirate into the perfect position tracking leader Sovereign Hill to the turn. Emirate was pushed back across the leader’s heels by a weakening Commanding Artist but composed himself quickly and stormed away.
“What an easy horse to ride. He just bounced and put himself in the perfect position,” Parr said.
“There was a bit of nonsense at the top of the straight – Jay Ford’s horse [Commanding Artist] was wandering around and we made contact.
“But when he went through the gap and I found clear air, my gosh, we all saw it. It was very impressive.”
By the post the margin for Emirate, the $2.70 favourite, was 2¾ lengths. Sovereign Hill ($6) held on for second by a long neck to a late-charging Mr Artemisia ($14), which might be the one from the Waller stable that gets a trip to the JJ Atkins.
“He is just going to love getting over a mile and was really strong late,” Rory Hutchings said of Mr Artemisia.
The win was part of a winning double for Waller. Cigar Flick found the heavy conditions to her liking as she took the three and four-year-old Benchmark 72 before the meeting was called off.
The ATC and Racing NSW will discuss transferring the Lord Mayors Cup to a meeting next week.
Franz Josef on his way
Gerard Ryan and Sterling Alexiou will step Franz Josef to stakes company in the Gunsynd Classic on Stradbroke day after he delivered a third victory in four starts at Rosehill.
Kerrin McEvoy took control early in the 1500m affair and Franz Josef had answers for every challenger.
The unbeaten Captain Furai ($4) loomed at the 300m mark and drew level at the 200m but Franz Josef ($3.70) stormed clear for a 1½-length victory. Kapakiri ($21) was another two lengths back in third.
“We have seen the improvement from his first-up run to now at home and that’s what he showed there,” Alexiou said. “He is owned up in Queensland and there are a couple of nice races for him up there.
“He is still on his way up and it is the right time for him to take that next step in the Gunsynd Classic over a mile in a couple of weeks because there is a lot more to come.”
Nolen and I Wish I Win back together
Luke Nolen returned to the saddle of I Wish I Win and took him back to the winner’s circle in the group 1 Kingsford Smith Cup at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Nolen, who was injured in a race fall earlier in the year and then replaced on Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman’s star sprinter, got the last laugh as I Wish I Win ($3.90 fav) reversed the result from the Doomben 10,000, beating Bella Nipotina ($8) in a driving finish. In Secret ($8.50) was third.
“I’ve done a lot on this horse. Obviously I was a bit disappointed being off him, but we made amends today,” Nolen said.
I Wish I Win returned to favouritism for The Everest at $4.40 after the win, which Nolen said could have been more dynamic if the track wasn’t rain-affected.
“We gained a run on the outside of the leaders at the 300. I knew we could finish over them but with two weeks between runs he’s never as dynamic,” he said. “He was probably more tradesman-like today. On top of the ground, they wouldn’t have seen which way he went.”
The win gave Moody and Coleman a double after Roll On High raced her way into the Stradbroke in the Fred Best Stakes.
Warmonger makes Queensland Derby a one-act affair
Jockey Blake Shinn didn’t worry about being wide on Warmonger in Saturday’s Queensland Derby – he just rode him how he felt, and that was pretty good.
After 2400m around Eagle Farm, Warmonger was out by himself in a show of staying dominance.
“During the race I’m thinking, ‘what are you thinking here Blake’,” co-trainer Michael Kent jnr admitted. “But he just made all the right calls.
“When that leader got away, you had to be near the pace. In the end, it was just a huge staying performance by the horse.”
Warmonger ($10) had a 10½ length margin on Moonlight Magic ($26), and there was another 2¾ lengths back to Felix The Scat ($61) in third.
“He did it the tough way but he was comfortable. I just wanted to make sure he kept going on his run,” Shinn said.
“It was a bit of a track gallop for him. He enjoyed it. He had his ears pricked down the back. He could see Navy King up in front. I asked him to extend from the 500 and he just kept building. I made sure he kept going to the line.”
Yiska explosive in Midway victory
Randwick trainer Michael Freedman pulled the right rein dropping Yiska back in trip and grade to win Saturday’s Midway Handicap at Rosehill.
Rory Hutchings gave the Smart Missile four-year-old the run of the race, just off the speed, and he showed a great turn of foot to put the race away in a couple of strides.
“It was a very smart decison by Michael Freedman to drop back in trip and he was electric when I asked him to go,” Hutchings said. “He felt like that last start at Scone but found the trip that little bit too far, but back in trip he was explosive when I asked him to go.”
Yiska ($6.50) speared away and put gaps in his rivals winning by 2¾ lengths from Everyone’s A Star ($9). Flightcrew ($8.50) was another 1¼ lengths back in third.
Bullock and Messara get a win in town
The combination of Aaron Bullock and the training partnership of Paul Messara and Leah Gavranich brought their 40 per cent strike rate to town with a familiar result as Rematch took out the Highway Handicap at Rosehill.
Bullock has ridden more than 100 winners for Messara and was delighted to get one in town for them.
“You just know every time you get on one of theirs it is trained perfectly and if they don’t win they are usually running a place,” Bullock said. “That horse found his race today, back in trip and rock-hard fit, and he had a bit of class on them.”
Rematch started the $4.20 favourite was too strong late for One Beat No Beat ($6.50) to win by a short neck, with Associate ($7.50) two lengths further back in third.
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