Farnan juveniles shine at the trials
There were five juvenile heats conducted at Rosehill on Friday morning and two of the quintet were taken out by progeny of Kia Ora’s resident first-season sire, Farnan (Not A Single Doubt).
Farnan’s good morning was kicked off by the unraced Peter Snowden-trained gelding, Johnny, who finished strongly to beat Dashing Windfall (D’Argento) by 0.3 lengths in his 900-metre jumpout. Solid (Wootton Bassett) finishing a further 0.2 lengths away in third.
Purchased by his trainer for $150,000 from Kia Ora’s draft at the 2024 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale last year, the gelding is out of winning mare Amuri (Zoustar), herself a half-sister to stakes-winning duo Thurlow (Sebring) and Three Kings (Sebring).
In the next heat over 900 metres, the John O’Shea and Tom Charlton-trained Iniesta, an unraced colt by Farnan, showed his talent when he defeated Nazwah (Capitalist) by 0.8 lengths with Bassett’s Choice (Wootton Bassett) a further 1.1 lengths further back in third.
O’Shea teamed up with James Bester to purchase Iniesta from Widden’s draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2024. He is out of Listed-placed mare Nieta (Nicconi), who is the dam of two winners.
O’Shea and Charlton were represented by another winner in the morning, with Burn The Sky, an unraced Zoustar (Northern Meteor), scoring in her 900-metre trial.
The filly defeated Pimlico (Extreme Choice) by 0.3 lengths with Federal Reserve (Justify) finishing a further 0.5 lengths away in third.
A $250,000 purchase for O’Shea and Bester at Magics last year, Burn The Sky is out of Combat Queen (Pierro) making her a three-quarter sister to Group 1 winner Mizzy (Zoustar) and last weekend’s PJ Bell Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) winner She’s Got Pizzazz (Zoustar).
A couple of heats earlier, Johnny’s stable companion, Raskol (Russian Revolution), also landed his trial, beating the David Payne-trained Irish Sinner (Saxon Warrior) by 2.2 lengths in a 1030-metre heat.
The first juvenile heat of the morning went the way of the Payne-trained Hereward, an unraced gelding by Saxon Warrior (Deep Impact), who landed his 1030-metre heat, beating his stablemate, Marcantonio (Circus Maximus) by 0.3 lengths.