Fireball explodes in Inglis Millennium
Champion trainer Chris Waller further bolstered his Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) hand after unbeaten colt Fireball (Snitzel) delivered a classy first-up victory in Saturday’s $2 million Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) at Randwick.
Resuming from a spell after an impressive debut win at Rosehill in November, the James Harron-owned Fireball powered home down the outside under James McDonald to defeat Ghana’s Akan (Street Boss) by 0.7 lengths as the $4.60 favourite, with Victorian visitor and last-start Blue Diamond Preview (Listed, 1000m) (C&G) winner Alibaba (Alabama Express) another 0.1 lengths away in third.
Waller said the most encouraging aspect of the performance was the colt’s ability to win on raw talent, with improvement still to come.
“He will get stronger, and he’ll get faster. He’s got the frame, he is well-bred,” Waller said. “He hasn’t been wound up to get to today. He wasn’t even going to run unless he drew a nice barrier. I was more than happy to wait and just bide our time.”
The son of Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) settled midfield after an average beginning before McDonald angled him into clear running approaching the home turn, where Fireball quickly asserted.
McDonald admitted there had been concerns about how the colt would cope with the pressure of a large field.
“I’ve been saying all week to Chris that the colt is a bit of a ‘dummy’ and I wasn’t sure if he was ready for a test like this,” the winning rider said. “But great credit to Chris, he had faith in the colt and said, ‘he is a very nice horse, as you will see when he is put under pressure’.
“He was put under pressure today and we saw how well he responded.”
Fireball now sits firmly on a Golden Slipper path, though Waller indicated he would avoid clashing the colt with his Canonbury Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner Hidrix (Extreme Choice), who is heading towards the Silver Slipper (Gr 2, 1100m) on February 21.
“We’re starting to work them out, which is good,” Waller said. “We’re in no rush and 1200 metres will suit him better, so one of those races coming up.”
Third placegetter Alibaba, ridden by Craig Newitt, also earned strong praise after attacking the line in his Sydney debut.
“He was unbelievable,” Newitt said. “We were strung up in traffic and he smashed the line. He’s a genuine Group 1 colt.”
Bred by Michael O’Keeffe and sold through Yarraman Park for $460,000 at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, Fireball became the 167th individual stakes winner for his late Arrowfield Stud sire Snitzel, who died last June.
He is the first foal to race out of the Charge Forward (Red Ransom) mare Advance Party, herself out of an unraced Redoute’s Choice (Danehill) half-sister to Listed winner I Have No Fear (Rock Of Gibraltar).
A half-brother to Fireball by Dundeel (High Chaparral) will be on offer at the upcoming Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, catalogued as Lot 614 and set to sell on Tuesday.