Slipper winner Stay Inside off the mark as Incognito impresses in Breeder’s Plate
Newgate Farm’s Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m)-winning stallion Stay Inside (Extreme Choice) exploded out of the gates as a sire when his first runner, million-dollar colt Incognito, completed a circle for trainer Michael Freedman in taking Saturday’s Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) at Randwick.
Freedman and his brother Richard prepared Stay Inside for his 2021 Slipper triumph before the pair went their separate ways, and the irrepressible progress Michael has made since establishing his own Randwick stable is well poised to continue with a host of formidable young runners.
Incognito looks set to be another of them.
The handsome colt was bred by Black Soil Bloodstock - formerly the BoomTime Racing team behind Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) - and was offered by that stallion’s Queensland home farm, Eureka Stud, at Magic Millions Gold Coast.
Purchased for the neat $1 million by James Harron and Tony Fung’s colts partnerships, the colt wasn’t quite a headline-grabber at Sydney’s first official two-year-old trials on September 22.
Lining up in the ninth and last heat of the day, he raced in third for Tommy Berry, hit the lead at the 200 metres, but weakened late to run a 0.4 lengths third behind Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Revengeance (Hellbent).
In the season’s first two-year-old race, however, Incognito looked a vastly improved horse.
Firming from $6 to $5, and with Berry keeping the ride, he sat fifth of the eight starters well off the pace set by another son of Stay Inside in second-favourite Eviction Notice, the eye-catching 7.8 lengths winner at the trials.
Berry released the brakes on Incognito entering the straight as Eviction Notice soon again advertised the frailties of trial form, weakening badly in the last 200 metres as $2.70 favourite I’m Ya Huckleberry (Home Affairs) surged towards the front.
But before that son of another keenly awaited first-season sire could take the lead, Incognito bounded to the front imposingly to his outside. I’m Ya Huckleberry stuck to his task but Incognito - straightened under hands and heels riding - carried Harron’s renowned green with gold epaulettes to a 0.3 lengths victory.
His times eclipsed that set by Shiki (Too Darn Hot) in winning the fillies’ Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) 35 minutes later. Incognito set 57.31 seconds compared with the Waterhouse-Bott filly’s 57.54, while his last 600 metres of 33.98 bettered Shiki’s 34.13.
While Harron celebrated heartily in the winners’ enclosure as his latest seven-figure colt successfully completed his first step towards stallionhood, Freedman said he was delighted with the win.
“We worked him with an older horse here on Tuesday morning to give him something to aim up on, and it was vastly different. He sat off the back of him and worked past him and did it well, so I thought if we could replicate that today, we'd be thereabouts
“It’s a big thrill to win a race like this, but to win it with a son of a colt that we trained for the Golden Slipper is an extra big thrill,” said Freedman, blaming a lack of experience for Incognito’s late fade at the trials.
“He's always really impressed us at home. He's always shown he's got a good turn of foot, which he showed in the trial, but I think he just got up beside those other horses and was having a bit of a look at them.
“We worked him with an older horse here on Tuesday morning to give him something to aim up on, and it was vastly different. He sat off the back of him and worked past him and did it well, so I thought if we could replicate that today, we'd be thereabouts.
“Tommy said to me that if we get the right sort of trail and the speed today, I know he'll quicken up really well, which he did.”
Freedman tipped further improvement from Incognito - saying he was still taking “a little bit of a look” at I’m Ya Huckleberry to his inside late on instead of kicking clear.
The youngest Freedman brother said the colt would be sent straight out for a spell before targets in the new year, possibly the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 10.
“We'll have a chat with James [Harron] and the crew,” he said. “He is a Magic Millions graduate, so I guess that is a possibility. Otherwise, a nice break and then start focusing on the autumn.”
Berry was delighted, and a touch relieved, the million-dollar colt had lived up to his price tag and track form.
“I have been let down plenty of times in the past, so you just go there hoping they’re going to go out and do what they’ve shown us at home,” he said.
“The first time Michael’s horses are let off the bit are in their first trial and I gave him a gallop on Tuesday morning and I walked in after it and Michael and I just raised our eyebrows like, ‘Jeez, what was that?’
“He put in a really, really sharp piece of work. We knew he had come on very well since then.”
“He just knuckled a little bit at the start but I reckon that’s probably what won him the race. He came back to me lovely after that, executed himself well.
“He’s a son of Stay Inside and I really like this stallion, not just because I won a Slipper on him but his horses are so mature and they’re ready-made.”
Jockey Adam Hyeronimus said Coolmore stallion Home Affairs’ (I Am Invincible) first runner I’m Ya Huckleberry - a $400,000 Gold Coast purchase - was gallant in defeat for the Waterhouse-Bott stable.
“Disappointed not to win,” he said. “I’m on a very good horse but full credit to the winner, he quickened up well. He beat us fair and square but my horse is very exciting.”
Revengeance gave Tulloch Lodge both minor placings by running third at $8.50.
“He is a lovely horse. Just raced greenly. The last section of the race was really strong from him,” said his jockey Josh Parr.
Posting another result for the burgeoning broodmare sire career of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), Incognito (2 c Stay Inside - Bleu Zebra by I Am Invincible) is the second foal out of the triple champion stallion’s daughter Bleu Zebra, a half-sister to Melbourne Listed winner Fox Swift (Foxwedge).
Third dam Pay My Bail (Justice Prevails) was New Zealand’s Champion 3YO Sprinter of 2003-04, a five-time stakes winner, and threw two black type victors in White Moss (Mossman) and White Sage (Reset).
Bleu Zebra now has a yearling filly by Darley shuttler Pinatubo (Shamardal), and a colt foal by Eureka’s Don Corleone (Extreme Choice).
Arrowfield Breeders' Plate (GR 3)
Show
Arrowfield Breeders' Plate (GR 3)
$250,000, Randwick, 2yo, 1000m, Good(4)
-
Incognito (AUS) 2 b C 56kg
Stay Inside (AUS) - Bleu Zebra (AUS), by I Am Invincible (AUS)
T: Michael Freedman J: Tommy Berry -
I'm Ya Huckleberry (AUS) 2 b C 56kg
Home Affairs (AUS) - Key (AUS), by Exceed And Excel (AUS)
T: G Waterhouse & A Bott J: A Hyeronimus
-
Revengeance (AUS) 2 b C 56kg
Hellbent (AUS) - Havasu (NZ), by Sacred Falls (NZ)
T: G Waterhouse & A Bott J: J Parr
Margins: 0.3 lens, 0.4 lens. Time: 0:57.31 (last 600m 33.98)
Betting: $5.00, $2.80, $8.50
Then followed: Paradoxium (AUS), Whip Cracker (AUS), Artaneous (AUS), Eviction Notice (AUS), Iambubb (AUS), last.
Business as usual for Too Darn Hot as Shiki fends off rivals in the Gimcrack
Too Darn Hot’s (Dubawi) ballistic stud career looks set to continue unabated, with the Darley shuttler claiming yet another Australian black type success when Shiki took the season’s first two-year-old fillies’ race in Saturday’s Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) at Randwick.
A $420,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast purchase for Kurrinda Bloodstock and the Waterhouse-Bott team, Shiki was the fastest winner among the nine at Sydney’s first official two-year-old trials on September 22.
And the powerfully built filly lived up to that rating with a fighting, if narrow, victory in the Gimcrack, giving Tulloch Lodge their second win in the race in four runnings, after Gai Waterhouse broke a surprising duck in the event in 2022 through Platinum Jubilee (Zoustar).
Ridden by Tim Clark - who also was aboard for her 0.6 lengths trial win - Shiki began well from gate six of 11 and took up the lead after 300 metres.
She led by a length and a half under a hold at the 400 metres, and while Clark had her at full throttle at the 300 metres, the $3.50 favourite had close attention from a few rivals, particularly the John Thompson-trained $51 shot Screen Icon (Nicconi).
Thompson won the race a year ago with favourite Bel Merci (Extreme Choice), but while Screen Icon would come close to giving him back-to-back successes, Shiki dug deep in the run home to defy Screen Icon, winning on the bob of the head by a slender 0.1 lengths.
Bjorn Baker’s trial winner Masvingo (Zoustar) grabbed third in a tight finish at $5, beaten a further 0.3 lengths.
Bred by South Australia’s Cornerstone Stud and Millar Racing and sold at the Gold Coast by Riverstone Lodge, Shiki became the 11th Australian stakes winner from 114 runners for Too Darn Hot, this country’s champion first and second season sire of the past two terms.
The ten-year-old has returned after a year off the shuttle to stand at Darley Kelvinside this spring for $275,000 (inc GST), up from $44,000 in 2023. He now has 20 winners - three at stakes level - from 60 runners in the new season.
Shiki’s success gave Too Darn Hot 28 black type victors from 375 runners worldwide, at 7.5 per cent.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott said Shiki would be spelled immediately with an eye to major two-year-old targets later in the season, and hinted she could win by larger margins in future with better racecraft.
“She deserved that win,” he said. “She’s a very sharp filly. Just got to teach her to relax a little bit, which no doubt she will going forward.
“I've been so pleased with the way she's been doing everything for us at home. She'll go away for a nice break now, and next preparation she'll come back a lot more mature mentally and physically.
“She's been a little bit rough in that regard all preparation. She’s been making good improvements, but there's still a lot to come. I think that's an indication of where she's at and the improvement to come. I was just delighted that she was able to do it today. She's obviously got some natural speed and natural brilliance.”
Bott said Shiki had been “drawing comparisons” around the stable to their 2024 Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) heroine Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon).
“She's done a great job today,” he said. “She'll go for a break now and be set for a similar campaign, hopefully, she can be just as effective.”
Clark concurred Shiki would benefit from “harnessing” her abundant speed.
“Just today, she's come out just a bit gassy and I just had to go with her and work her through a little bit. To her credit, she was really brave that last bit,” he said.
“She deserved that win. She’s a very sharp filly. Just got to teach her to relax a little bit, which no doubt she will going forward
Shiki (2 f Too Darn Hot - Jest Excel by Exceed And Excel) is the fourth and best foal out of Jest Excel (Exceed And Excel), a three-time Queensland provincial winner from 900 metres to 1000 metres and a half-sister to 2004 VRC Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 2, 1000m) victor Jiang (Testa Rossa).
Jest Excel now has a yearling filly by Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon), and was covered last December by Artorius (Flying Artie).
Keeneland Gimcrack Stakes (GR 3)
Show
Keeneland Gimcrack Stakes (GR 3)
$250,000, Randwick, 2yo, 1000m, Good(4)
-
Shiki (AUS) 2 b/br F 56kg
Too Darn Hot (GB) - Jest Excel (AUS), by Exceed And Excel (AUS)
T: G Waterhouse & A Bott J: Tim Clark -
Screen Icon (AUS) 2 b F 56kg
Nicconi (AUS) - Screebe (AUS), by Star Witness (AUS)
T: John Thompson J: C Schofield
-
Masvingo (AUS) 2 b F 56kg
Zoustar (AUS) - Rotator (AUS), by Not A Single Doubt (AUS)
T: Bjorn Baker J: J R Collett
Margins: 0.1 lens, 0.3 lens. Time: 0:57.54 (last 600m 34.13)
Betting: $3.80, $51.00, $5.00
Then followed: Oh Yes She Did (AUS), Home Invasion (AUS), The Wildling (AUS), Better Off Alone (AUS), Yvonne's Joy (AUS), Give Her Strength (AUS), Doubella (AUS), Handloom (AUS), last.
Hayes brothers hoping for another Diamond in Eurocanto
Lindsay Park hope they have another two-year-old star by Per Incanto (Street Cry) after Eurocanto flew home to win a thrilling edition of Victoria’s first juvenile race of the season, the Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (Listed, 1000m).
Bred and sold to the Hayes brothers by Tony Bott’s Evergreen Stud for $250,000 at Magic Millions Gold Coast, Eurocanto was solid in the betting at $8 after a pair of jump-out seconds under Mark Zahra, who retained the ride at Flemington on Saturday.
Bearing the blue with a red V of senior part-owner Carl Holt, the colt was outsped after a decent start from gate three and settled seventh near the fence in the field of five colts and five fillies.
Eurocanto was still buried away at the 400 metres as Zahra looked for a way clear, drifting towards the outside. The colt finally found a passage at the 200 metres but was still four lengths off the leaders.
However, under vigorous riding he finished powerfully to snatch victory on the bob of the head from Clinton McDonald’s gallant filly Streisand (Magnus), the $5.50 third-favourite.
In a bunched finish, Team McEvoy filly One Day At A Time (Bivouac) also finished well for third, beaten 0.5 lengths, at $4. Waterhouse-Bott’s $3.70 favourite and Sydney official trials winner Knightsbridge (Farnan) was fifth, 1.4 lengths off the winner.
For Ben, JD and Will Hayes, Eurocanto revives memories of their 2023 Blue Diamond Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Little Brose, another son of Per Incanto who’s this year crossed the Tasman to stand alongside his sire at Little Avondale Stud. Per Incanto’s first son at stud is standing for $15,000 (plus GST).
After Eurocanto’s win, JD Hayes said he could draw a comparison between the colt and Little Brose, who came from seventh to win his Blue Diamond by a length.
“It’s a little bit early, but he was a little ‘Brosey’ there. It was a terrific ride. He got last crack at them and he attacked the line, which is what you like to see. It was a professional performance,” said Hayes, who lauded bloodstock agent Dean Hawthorne for helping in the colt’s purchase.
“He was picked out by our sales team up at the Magic Millions. Dean Hawthorne does a terrific job. We really liked him and we’ve had good success with the stallion.
“He’s an athletic style of horse with plenty of improvement to come and it was good to be able to kick off his career in that fashion.”
Zahra sprang a surprise by saying “I usually don’t like riding two-year-olds too early”, but added he had made an exception for Eurocanto.
“When the Hayes's call, I’ll pick up the phone because they’ll usually identify one that they’re happy with and they want me to trial it. It is a good process and if I like it, then I’ll stick with it,” he said.
“That is what happened with this guy. I trialled him twice and liked him two times and he’s got the job done today.
“His manners in the barriers left a little bit to be desired, but I just left him alone. It is a tough test first-up up the straight over 1000 [metres] and I like to be the last one on the scene.
“He did that well. He was able to travel up behind them and showed good grit late to win. I was able to come down the middle and quicken, which is hard for them to do. Good effort and well trained.”
Hayes said Eurocanto might now be headed towards the Maribyrnong Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) on Melbourne Cup day.
“We’ll see how he pulls up and it would be tempting, all systems go, into Cup week,” he said. “But first and foremost we’ll see how he is first thing in the morning.”
Eurocanto became the 34th stakes winner worldwide from 672 runners - at 5.1 per cent - for Per Incanto, a tally that includes nine Group 1 victors. In Australia, the 21-year-old has 14 black type winners from 198 starters, at 7.1 per cent, while in New Zealand he has 23 from 408 at 5.6 per cent.
Per Incanto is standing his 15th season at stud at Little Avondale this spring for $60,000 (plus GST), up from $50,000 last year.
Eurocanto (2 c Per Incanto - Shespending by Savabeel) is the second foal and first runner for New Zealand mare Shespending (Savabeel), a one-start maiden.
Third dam Splashing Out (O’Reilly) bore two multiple Group winners from five foals: dual New Zealand Group winner Splurge (Savabeel) - Shespending’s three-quarter brother - and dual Melbourne Group winner Shopaholic (Pins).
Sold back across the Tasman at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale of 2023 for $260,000 to Botty’s Bloodstock, while carrying Eurocanto, Shespending now has a yearling colt and a filly foal, both by Farnan (Not A Single Doubt).
Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (LR)
Show
Darley Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (LR)
$175,000, Flemington, 2yo, 1000m, Good(4)
-
Eurocanto (AUS) 2 br C 58kg
Per Incanto (USA) - Shespending (NZ), by Savabeel (AUS)
T: Ben, Will & Jd Hayes J: M Zahra -
Streisand (AUS) 2 b F 56kg
Magnus (AUS) - Zouper Star (AUS), by Zoustar (AUS)
T: C W McDonald J: B Melham
-
One Day At A Time (AUS) 2 b F 56kg
Bivouac (AUS) - Everyday Lady (AUS), by Charge Forward (AUS)
T: T & C McEvoy J: H Coffey
Margins: 0.1 lens, 0.4 lens. Time: 0:58.44 (last 600m 34.30)
Betting: $8.00, $5.50, $4.00
Then followed: Knurl (AUS), Knightsbridge (AUS), Flash Of Class (AUS), Rubare (AUS), Given The Extreme (AUS), Harry Met Sally (AUS), Rich On Bubbles (AUS), last.
All roads lead to the Cup for dominant Turnbull winner Sir Delius
High-priced import Sir Delius (Frankel) gave another strong indication of why connections paid $2.7 million for him by storming to an imperious victory in Saturday’s Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington.
In his first clash with Via Sistina (Fastnet Rock), and as a $7 chance to her $2.60, the Waterhouse-Bott trained entire hugely outshone the Horse of the Year, relegating her to a well-beaten third as he exploded late for a 1.8 lengths win.
Sir Delius was forced to race wide without cover from the outside gate of 14, including through the early stages of Flemington’s sweeping large arc, before Craig Williams managed to tuck him in with cover in the one-one position from the halfway mark.
After Blake Shinn aboard Antino (Redwood) was forced into an early wide move to share the lead from the 800 metres, Williams gained a lovely smother in the middle of the pack on Sir Delius, while James McDonald tried to improve from the read on Via Sistina.
Antino had the lead from the 350 metres but, in the clear, Sir Delius came out after him, drew level at the 150 metres, then produced an electrifying burst of acceleration, under second top-weight of 58 kilograms, to put the race to bed.
Via Sistina continued her run into third place, but was 2.2 lengths off the winner. Half Yours (St Jean) - one of only two Australian-breds in a field packed with eight northern hemisphere imports - worked home well for fourth to show why he is favourite for the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m).
Despite their finishing order, Via Sistina still holds sway over Sir Delius in betting for the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m), which the eight-year-old mare won with a record time and margin last year, at $2.80 and $3.50 respectively.
But the five-year-old Sir Delius is now alone at the top of betting for the Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), at just $3.50. Second favourite is Australian Bloodstock’s coming Irish raider Al Riffa (Wootton Bassett) at $5, with Australian-bred Revelare (So You Think) next at $11.
After six starts in France highlighted by a Group 3 success and a Group 1 third over 2400 metres, Sir Delius topped last year’s Tattersalls Autumn Horses In Training Sale, when purchased by Waterhouse-Bott, Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock, De Burgh Equine and McKeever Bloodstock. Their price of 1,300,000gns, or AU$2.7 million, was a record for the sale, smashing the previous mark of 1,000,000gns.
The bold play has reaped instant dividends. In just four starts in Australia, Sir Delius has earned $1.23 million, on top of the $272,000 he made in his six French runs, the last of which was an eighth in the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe (Gr 1, 2400m).
Racing in Go Bloodstock’s yellow and white, Sir Delius debuted in Australia with a 1.3 lengths victory at $1.80 in Doomben’s Chairman’s Handicap (Gr 3, 2000m) in May, before an eye-catching first-up 0.2 lengths second in Randwick’s Chelmsford Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m).
He then took Caulfield’s Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) by 0.5 lengths at $2.10, before Saturday’s explosive triumph which silenced anyone still questioning his quality.
"He's a most exciting horse,” said co-trainer Gai Waterhouse, celebrating her 163rd Group 1 - her 29th with Adrian Bott - and praising Williams for his 86th.
"He had a wide draw, and he elected very quickly, which he said to me he might, to come in midfield.”
Waterhouse said after the home turn “the waters opened, and he went boom”.
“That was the exciting part - the boom,” she said.
"He's put on condition. He's relaxed more and whatever he runs in, they're going to have to beat him.”
Williams said he’d been confident before the race that Sir Delius could overcome his wide draw.
"In Group 1 races, you don't think you can win like that, but we were very confident he could do it," Williams said.
"We had the outside barrier draw. Gai and Adrian were very good about having an open book without too much pressure about riding him.
"I had to use a few carrots to find a spot, but when the chips are down, this horse is a winner."
Williams said he was unsure about Sir Delius’s maximum distance, but said the Melbourne Cup - in which he has 55.5 kilograms - was well worth trying for a horse who’s already shaping as a hot stallion prospect.
"I just said [Sir Delius] will never have 55-and-a-half kilos in the Melbourne Cup again," Williams said.
"I worked him during the week at Flemington, and he walked out and he owned the track.
"He owns everything he does and today you saw that attitude. He puts the writing on the wall when under pressure against these top horses, and he's delivering."
Sir Delius has always had a price tag commensurate with his regal bloodlines.
Breeders David and Trish Brown of Furnace Mill Stud sold him to Coolmore’s MV Magnier for 675,000gns ($1.45m) at the Tattersalls December Foal Sale in 2021.
His dam, Whatami (Daylami), has bred five winners and three stakes victors among eight runners. His siblings include his Wolferton Stakes (Listed, 2000m) winning full-brother Juan Elcano and the Group 3-winning Nkosikazi (Cape Cross).
Whatami is a sister to Group 2 winner James Garfield’s (Exceed And Excel) dam Whazzat, who in turn is the second dam of another Group 2 victor in Wimbledon Hawkeye (Kameko).
One of 169 stakes winners globally for Juddmonte’s super sire Frankel (Galileo), Sir Delius is the stallion's 19th in the southern hemisphere. That group now has four Group 1 winners, the others being Australian-breds Hungry Heart and Converge, and British import Mirage Dancer.
McDonald said of Via Sistina: “I think she’s going well. That tough run will harden her up a bit for the Cox Plate.”
Half Yours’s rider Jamie Melham was full of praise over the five-year-old gelding’s last run before the Caulfield Cup, in which he has 52.5k kilograms, having carried 56 kilograms on Saturday.
“Extremely excited for two weeks’ time with this horse,” she said. “He’s flying.”
TAB Turnbull Stakes (GR 1)
Show
TAB Turnbull Stakes (GR 1)
$750,000, Flemington, 4yo+, 2000m, Good(3)
-
Sir Delius (GB) 4 b H 58kg
Frankel (GB) - Whatami (GB), by Daylami (IRE)
T: G Waterhouse & A Bott J: Craig Williams -
Antino (NZ) 7 br/bl G 59kg
Redwood (GB) - Mahamaya (NZ), by Bahhare (USA)
B: Blossom Trading & Breeding Company Ltd, NZ T: T J Gollan J: B Shinn
-
Via Sistina (IRE) 7 b M 57kg
Fastnet Rock (AUS) - Nigh (IRE), by Galileo (IRE)
B: Laundry Cottage Stud Farm T: C J Waller J: J B Mc Donald
Margins: 1.8 lens, 0.4 lens. Time: 2:02.81 (last 600m 33.85)
Betting: $7.00, $9.00, $2.60
Then followed: Half Yours (AUS), Aeliana (NZ), Deakin (FR), Adelaide River (IRE), Young Werther (NZ), Middle Earth (GB), Moira (CAN), Zardozi (AUS), River of Stars (IRE), Golden Path (NZ), Land Legend (FR), last.
























