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Wigs out to make a Big impression in the Vain Stakes
Paul Symes
ANZ News
A pair of three-year-old colts harbouring Group 1 ambitions will headline Team Stokes’ spring assault, with Big Wigs (Gold Standard) forming an advance party when he contests Saturday’s Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Caulfield.
Big Wigs rose to prominence as a juvenile when he carried the famous Makybe colours to victory in The VOBIS Platinum Showdown (1200m), sparking scenes of cathartic joy in the mounting yard for Tony Santic and his team who had lost the eponymous farm’s mighty mare a matter of days before the $1 million contest.
Big Wigs’ stablemate Stretan Ruler (Wild Ruler) scaled even great heights last season, winning the Silver Slipper (Gr 2, 1100m) and registering a pair of stakes placings to ride on the coat-tails of his big sister Stretan Angel (Harry Angel), whose formidable feats on the racetrack persuaded Arrowfield to acquire her for $1.6 million at the Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale.
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Stretan Ruler will campaign predominantly in Sydney this spring with a view to peaking in the Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Rosehill, where victory would secure his future at stud.
That primary aim is the same for Big Wigs but he is more likely to remain at home in Victoria, with his potential grand final options headlined by the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) – a race which marked his sire’s swansong before he was whisked off to stud.
The Guineas is a lofty target for a colt whose sole win to date came in a juvenile race restricted to the progeny of VOBIS Sires stallions, but the way he cruised to the line under a hold in a recent jumpout behind Lindsay Park’s hard-ridden stakes winner Machine Gun Gracie (Maschino) would indicate that he is in for a profitable preparation.
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Tommy Stokes, who officially joined his father Phil on the training ticket at the start of the season, was taken with that performance and believes that the unassuming colt – who is on the third line of Vain Stakes betting at $6.50 – has returned from his winter spell a much more switched-on character.
“He’s come back in really good order and that trial would suggest that he’s going super,” Stokes told ANZ News.
“He’s matured in every way during his time off, even though he’s still not a big colt he’s definitely strengthened up physically, and his riders at home have recently noticed that he seems much more focused now. It’s a fairly big ask to kick him off in a Group 3 race first-up, but we were pretty keen to find out at the start of his prep what sort of heights he might reach.
“We threw a nomination in for the Golden Rose, because like Stretan Ruler he’s up and ready at the right time. If he was to come out and win or even run really well on Saturday, it’s a path we might take with him but he’s more likely to race in Melbourne this spring and hopefully we can get him to the Caulfield Guineas.
“He’s matured in every way during his time off, even though he’s still not a big colt he’s definitely strengthened up physically, and his riders at home have recently noticed that he seems much more focused now. It’s a fairly big ask to kick him off in a Group 3 race first-up, but we were pretty keen to find out at the start of his prep what sort of heights he might reach
“If he keeps progressing and doing the right things, then we’d like to think he could be competitive in those sorts of races. We had planned to run him in the Sires’ Produce after his win in The Showdown, but he came down with a bit of a virus so we had to pull up stumps and send him to the paddock.
“It was obviously disappointing at the time, but in hindsight it may have been a blessing in disguise as you can sometimes push these two-year-olds too hard and come unstuck. He’s had a good long break and has come back in with a real spring in his step, so we’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.”
Widden’s proprietor Antony Thompson and his team will also be closely monitoring Saturday’s action at Caulfield, in the hope that Big Wigs can give his sire Gold Standard (Sebring) a very timely boost. With all due respect to the Riddells Creek resident, despite flying out of the blocks with a Group 1 winner from his first crop in Sheeza Belter, Gold Standard is yet to fully live up to his name in the breeding barn.
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However, he enjoyed some resurgent results at the sales in 2025 and now has a bumper batch of three-year-olds set to hit the racetrack including Alkira, the half-sister to stakes winner Zany Girl (Needs Further), who was acquired by Denise Martin’s Star Thoroughbreds for $80,000 from the Armidale Stud draft at the Magic Millions Tasmanian Yearling Sale.
Big Wigs’ part-owner Daniel Gangi was unaware of the striking black colt’s relatively modest pedigree – the dam Nooks And Crannies (Denman) won three of eight starts for Toby Edmonds – when he first clapped eyes on him as a weanling during the course of a boozy barbeque at Makybe Stud just over two years ago.
But it was love at first sight for the hobby breeder, and after brokering a deal that night with Santic and syndicating him to some friends and family, Gangi has since jumped into the ownership of the colt’s juvenile half-sister by Yulong’s shuttler Lucky Vega (Lope De Vega). The filly, who has been named Miss Big Wigs, has been broken in and is currently spelling at Makybe ahead of her first preparation with the Stokes stable.
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Having missed Big Wigs’ rampaging defeat of subsequent Group 1 placegetter Miss Chanel (Tagaloa) in The Showdown, due to a pre-planned trip to check in on some of his broodmares at Waikato Stud, Gangi made certain he would be available for the colt’s return to action. Up to 40 owners – including Santic – are set to descend on Caulfield, with Gangi vowing to celebrate in style if the colt can kick off his campaign with another bold display under Lachie Neindorf.
“I’ve got a flight to New Zealand early on Sunday morning so if Big Wigs can win again, I might be going straight from the celebrations to the airport,” said the 50-year-old, who runs the Gangi family’s large-scale electrical business in Melbourne.
“I know Tony is very excited and we all are, because his win in The Showdown was pretty electric. We should probably keep a lid on our expectations since he’s first-up from a spell against a pretty hot field, but I’ve never had to pay a bill for a dream.
“If we’re dreaming big, then the Caulfield Guineas is the main target. Obviously at this stage we don’t know whether or not he’ll get a mile, but he relaxes well and his pedigree would suggest that he might.
“It’s been unbelievable to share the experience with friends and family, and it’s a privilege to race a horse in the Makybe colours. Hopefully we can have some more fun with the colt over the spring, and then with the half-sister when she makes it to the track as a three-year-old.”
