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‘Hopefully we can start winning them again’
Cosmic Crusader and Diamond Scene out to end four-year Group 1 drought for Peters
Trevor Marshallsea
ANZ News
West Australian breeding icon Bob Peters is hoping to break what for him is a lengthy top-tier drought when he sends two runners into the final Australian elite-level contest of the year, the Northerly Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) at Ascot on Saturday.
Things could not have gone better for Peters in 2021, when he swept the board of Perth’s three top-level races, claiming the Railway Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) with Western Empire (Iffraaj), the Winterbottom Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) with Graceful Girl (Nicconi), and the Northerly with Regal Power (Pierro).
But those are the last Group 1s in which Peters’ famed cerise with the white crossed sashes have crossed the line first. Coming shortly before he and long-term trainers Grant and Alana Williams parted company early in 2022, they’re also the last time his horses have been placed in the city’s three features.
However, Peters is hopeful his wait will be over this weekend with his two Michael Grantham-trained Northerly runners Cosmic Crusader (Maurice) and Diamond Scene (So You Think).
Cosmic Crusader was on Tuesday on the second line of betting at $7, along with Peters’ former runner Western Empire - who’s still trained by Team Williams - and behind unbeaten three-year-old sensation King Of Light (Earthlight) at $2.70.
Diamond Scene was around $21 after coming home well last start when fourth in the Railway - the closest a Peters runner has come to an elite placing since his 2021 treble.
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While he’s won a hatful of Group 1s and has stood as a giant among WA breeders for many years, Peters sounded decidedly mortal when he reflected: “Group 1s are very hard things to win.”
“You might have a little run where you win a few of them and then you might go without for a while,” he told ANZ News.
“We had a very good year in 2021, but I don’t think we’ve had another Group 1 since then. Hopefully we can start winning them again.”
Octogenarian Peters was, however, maintaining his usual realistic approach to Saturday’s race, conceding King Of Light would be “very hard to beat”.
Still, not a betting man, he was pleasantly surprised to learn of Cosmic Crusader’s high rank in the market.
“It’s good to see other people like him,” he said. “You’ve still got to see them do it, though.”
Cosmic Crusader is the first of five foals to race for Cosmic Storm (Street Sense), who won four Perth stakes events for Peters, capped by the 2016 La Trice Classic (Gr 3, 1800m).
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Peters, as is his way, has largely picked a stallion for the NSW-based broodmare and stuck to it. She’s had eight matings, and seven have been with Cosmic Crusader’s sire Maurice (Screen Hero).
The exception was one cover, just after Cosmic Crusader was born, from Windsor Park Stud shuttler Charm Spirit (Invincible Spirit), which explains why among Cosmic Storm’s progeny, only Cosmic Crusader comes with an NZ suffix.
“We’ve produced nice foals by Maurice, so there’s no reason not to go back to him,” Peters said.
The luck hasn’t run the best, however, with two misses and a deceased foal coming from Cosmic Storm’s covers from Arrowfield’s Japanese shuttler in the past four years.
She’s in-foal to him again now though, with Peters keeping his fingers crossed. The Charm Spirit offspring - now a four-year-old named Cosmic Spirit - is looking handy too, if lightly raced, having won at Albany and Pinjarra in the past two of her three starts.
Cosmic Crusader stuttered somewhat early on, winning at starts one and three but not again in his first eight.
However, the gelding has boomed since the beginning of his preparation a year ago, a development that followed the removal of his visors.
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He won both starts of that campaign in restricted grade, then made it four in a row at the start of the current one, still in benchmark affairs.
Promoted to stakes class, he ran an 0.28 length third in Ascot’s Asian Beau Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) - won by subsequent Railway winner and $9 Northerly chance Watch Me Rock (Awesome Rock) - before an 0.27 length third in the race named for his owner, the RJ Peters Stakes (Gr 3, 1500m).
While those efforts had merit, they were insufficient to secure a place higher than fourth emergency in the Railway. Cosmic Crusader instead went to the Carbine Club Stakes (Listed, 1400m) that day - and bolted in, by 2.59 lengths.
The five-year-old powered home from just behind midfield there, but has also led and come from the rear, depending on his barrier. Peters believes it will be a similar story this Saturday. Cosmic Crusader has drawn gate nine for jockey Clint Johnston-Porter.
Cosmic Crusader will need to be as good as the bookies feel he is on Saturday in what will be his initial attempt beyond 1650 metres, rising for the first time to weight-for-age - and 59 kilograms - from the 56.5 kilograms he had under the set weights of the Carbine Club.
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But Peters hopes that with a decent pace set, his main hope will be powering home.
“I don’t know what to think until he goes and does it,” Peters said. “Sometimes in our races over here the pace goes off and horses don’t handle that. He hasn’t had the experience of running over this trip, so this is all new.
“It’s also a bit different because unfortunately we didn’t get a run in the Railway, and now he’s got to go straight into weight-for-age. He got in well under the set weights in the Carbine Club, but now we’re going to weight-for-age against proven weight-for-age horses.
“Put it this way, I think we’ll know where we are with him after Saturday. I’m not confident he can win the race - he’s coming up in grade enormously compared to everything he’s done before - and King Of Light will be very hard to beat.
“But I think he’ll get the distance alright, as long as he relaxes. A solid pace would be good.”
Diamond Scene, in contrast, is already proven at the trip, with the six-year-old gelding having won at distances up to 2200 metres and run an 0.63 length second in last summer’s Perth Cup (Gr 2, 2400m), behind $51 Northerly chance Hemlock Stone (Dalghar).
The pair are en route to that New Year’s Day feature again, but Peters said it wouldn’t surprise him to see Diamond Scene turn in a strong performance this Saturday.
Diamond Scene is the seventh named foal of Peters’ former mare Jewelled (Zabeel), who won just once but was second at 2200 metres in Listed class at Belmont.
Looking for some more stamina, Peters also stuck with So You Think (High Chaparral), putting Jewelled to him for five successive seasons. The product of the fourth mating - Diamond Scene - is now the mare’s second stakes winner after Listed victor Adornment (Medaglia D’Oro).
“We sent mares to So You Think for a long time. It’s a pity that he’s gone now,” said Peters, whose best runners by the Coolmore stallion - who died in October - include 2022 Perth Cup victor Midnight Blue.
Diamond Scene has won nine of 19 races, breaking through at stakes grade last summer with Ascot Listed wins over 1800 metres and 2200 metres.
The former, over the Northerly course, came two starts after a first-up 1400-metre success. He repeated that trick when resuming successfully in October’s Eurythmic Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m), and also goes into Saturday’s 1800-metre test third-up from a spell, following his fourth in the 1600-metre Railway.
“He came back in and surprised us in the Eurythmic, although it shouldn’t have surprised us because he always runs well fresh,” said Peters of a horse who’s won three from four first-up.
“His Railway run was OK, just OK, but he’s stepping up in distance now and that’ll suit him. If he gets a good run he could be in the finish.
“But there’s a weight-for-age race over 2100 metres for him at his next start, and that will probably be better for him than this one.”
