Big-money buy Vatican ready to take his chance in the Inglis Nursery
Chris Waller is preparing to pull the covers off a seven-figure colt this Saturday as Coolmore’s new fleet of two-year-olds get ready to hit the tracks – and he’ll perhaps say a prayer for a strong result.
Vatican (Wootton Bassett) will step out in the Inglis Nursery (RL, 1000m) at Randwick, where a field including up to six first starters are set to tackle the $400,000 event.
Bred by Cunningham Thoroughbreds, Castle Resources and Douglas Racing, the richly dark coloured colt was bought by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier for $1.2 million at Inglis Easter this year.
From the second Australian crop of the late Wootton Bassett (Iffraaj), whose Australian offspring grew only more valuable after his death in September, Vatican hails from an esteemed family.
He’s the first living foal of three-time country winner Egyptian Missile (Smart Missile), daughter of the outstanding Our Egyptian Raine (Desert Sun), the eight-time stakes victor including of Ellerslie’s Railway Handicap (Gr 1, 1200m), and New Zealand’s Champion Older Female Sprinter of 2002-03.
Our Egyptian Raine is also the dam of triple stakes-winning sprinter Egyptian Symbol (Stratum) and two more stakes-placed offspring.
Vatican is among the first two-year-olds to show up for Coolmore this year.
In the past three seasons, the Coolmore-Waller axis has debuted their star youngster of the season in the second half of January en route to the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) – those being homebred Slipper winner Shinzo (Snitzel), his present-day fellow Coolmore sire and $1.5 million yearling purchase Switzerland (Snitzel), and $1.6 million buy Wodeton (Wootton Bassett).
Prior to that, $875,000 buy – and another current Coolmore sire – Home Affairs (I Am Invincible), debuted on January 30 back in 2021.
The fact Waller is straying from that template with Vatican would indicate that, though this is the first tentative step on a journey aimed at the $5 million Slipper on March 21, the colt has come to hand pleasingly quickly for connections.
With Coolmore heading an ownership group including regular partners such as Wynaus, Westerberg, Waller and Morningrise Stud’s Robert McClure, Vatican first appeared with a barrier trial in the typically quiet Waller style at Rosehill in mid-November.
He then tuned up more fully in another trial at Canterbury last Tuesday, with an 0.53 length second of four behind Newgate Farm-China Horse Club’s $500,000 Gold Coast buy Campione D’Italia (Snitzel).
“Vatican’s a nice horse,” Coolmore’s racing manager John Kennedy told ANZ News. “He’s a horse that we definitely have on the top side of our system.
“He’s done everything we’ve asked for, and it’s going to be nice to see how he handles the raceday environment.
“True to the way Chris trains them, they always have the grand final [the Slipper] in mind and Saturday’s only a stepping stone towards that, so the screw isn’t fully turned yet, but he’s well prepared to take on his maiden.”
Connections were impressed with Vatican’s second trial.
“He came around the home bend, and while he wasn’t used to Canterbury because it’s not his home track, he did exactly what we wanted to see,” Kennedy said.
“He just showed a little bit of greenness in the latter stages, but then he collected himself and he raced very well to the line, so we were very impressed with that.
“There haven’t been very many two-year-old races this season, so it’s hard to get a true gauge on them, but in terms of the horse himself we feel like he’s ready to take his place on Saturday.
“The most important thing is he gets a good grounding in this race, and goes through all the little stages well, and hopefully we can have a nice opinion of him after Saturday. But we just want to see him get a good experience from his first run and go from there.
“He certainly is a horse we regard as typical of the sireline in that he’ll perform at two, and looks like the style of horse with a profile to suggest he’ll get better after that.
“Obviously at $1.2 million, he had a lot of interest at the sale and we had to stretch to get him, but he’s a nice horse and we’re very happy to have him in the system.”
The Nursery nominations comprise five colts and seven fillies. The half-dozen with race experience include one winner in Ciaron Maher’s filly Calamari Ring (Street Boss), the $140,000 Inglis Great Southern Weanling Sale purchase who beat the boys with a 0.2 length debut triumph in Flemington’s Inglis Banner (RL, 1000m) on Stakes Day.
Meanwhile, Wodeton has returned to work for his three-year-old autumn campaign.
The product of Wootton Bassett’s first Australian crop has almost recouped his $1.6 million sale price with $1.33 million in the bank thanks to a win and five placings, including his gallant 0.14 length second in the Slipper.
However, that coveted headlining victory still eludes him after nine starts.
Wodeton’s recent four-start spring campaign was something of a curate’s egg. It was highlighted by second placings first-up in the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and third-up in the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m), but ended with a disappointing tenth in the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), beaten 5.3 lengths as $2.80 favourite.
Kennedy said the colt would race in sprint trips at least for the start of his campaign. Based on his early showings, potential targets could range from the VRC Newmarket (Gr 1, 1200m) to the Randwick Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m).
“He’s a very versatile horse who can go over all distances, but I think at the start of his prep, we’ll start him out like we did last time when he resumed in the San Domenico,” Kennedy said. “We’ll keep him to sprinting trips and build him up from there. He’s definitely a versatile horse and can handle all different distances.
“From our point of view, he came into his three-year-old year in very good order. He ran an amazing race in the San Domenico and backed it up in the Golden Rose. He was a bit unlucky in both those races, which would have played out a bit better for him if they’d raced a bit differently.
“But we’re happy with the way he’s come out of them and we’re really looking forward to seeing a horse who can put his best foot forward in the new year.”