Montefilia silences distance doubters with fine Metropolitain victory
There were never any questions surrounding Montefilia’s (Kermadec) talent, but ahead of Randwick’s Metropolitan Handicap (Gr 1, 2400m) a few had reserved judgement as to whether she could see out the 2400 metres effectively. But yesterday, the daughter of Kermadec (Teofilo) proved her many critics wrong, staying on strongly to clinch her third win at top-flight level and also providing her jockey Hugh Bowman with a century of Group 1 victories.
A winner of the Flight Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) and Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) last year, the four-year-old mare entered the race having attempted the distance on two previous occasions last season, running fourth in the Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) and fifth in the Australian Oaks (Gr 1, 2400m) and yesterday she cemented her claim to be considered among the very best middle distance horses in Australia with this latest Group 1 success.
Winning trainer David Payne said he always retained faith the mare was a bona fide stayer and he is hoping she can repeat the feat on her next start and etch her name in the record books when she takes a shot at the Caulfield Cup (Gr 1, 2400m) on October 16.
“Everybody said she couldn’t stay a mile-and-a-half, but I had no doubts. That’s why she was in the race today,” Payne said.
“She is a special filly and we will go to the Caulfield Cup now. Why not? I’m pretty confident she gets the trip.”
Having her third run this preparation, Montefilia settled nicely for Hugh Bowman back in ninth place before tracking up behind Entente (Dundeel) at the 600–metre mark.
Urged by Bowman with 300 metres left to cover, the mare responded well and after battling bravely up the straight, hit the line a nose ahead of favourite Entente, with Harpo Marx (Galileo) finishing another length and a quarter away in third.
In winning his 100th elite–level race, Bowman becomes only the fourth jockey to achieve the feat, joining George Moore, Damien Oliver and Jim Cassidy.
Bowman is perhaps best known for his association with the great champion Winx (Street Cry), whose 25 wins at Group 1 level equate to 25 per cent of the jockey’s wins at top-flight and he was very quick to propel her to the centre of his celebrations yesterday.
“I must admit, I am very proud to have achieved it,” Bowman said. “Obviously one horse was involved in a quarter of those 100 victories, which in itself is amazing.”
It was Bowman’s second win on Montefilia, having guided her to her Flight Stakes victory last season and he was quick to heap praise on her talent.
“She is a mighty mare. I have had a wonderful association with her,” Bowman said.
“Twelve months ago we were unexpected winners of the Flight Stakes and she has gone on to achieve at the highest level since then and also run consistently.”
Montefilia (4 m Kermadec – Bana Wu by Shirocco) was purchased by Dean Harvey’s Baystone Farm as a weanling for $62,000 at the 2018 edition of the Inglis Great Southern Sale from the Tyreel Stud draft, she was then subsequently re-offered by the same farm at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale the following year and was snapped up by Payne for $130,000.
The filly is one of four winners out of the British-bred stakes placed Shirocco (Monsun) mare Bana Wu, who was sold by Tyreel Stud for $92,500 at the 2018 Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale to Victorian breeder Sean Duke. Her other winners include Group 3-placed filly Nice For What (Shalaa).
The filly’s third dam is Group 3 winner Ausherra (Diesis), who in turn produced Group 2 winner Strategic Prince (Dansili) and the Listed winner and Group 2-placed Yorkshire (Generous).
Bana Wu’s two-year-old is a colt by Haunui Farm shuttler Ribchester (Iffraaj) and she missed to that same sire the following season. Last November, the mare was covered once again by Kermadec, who stands at Darley’s Kelvinside base at a fee of $11,000 (inc GST).
When Montefilia lines up in the Caulfield Cup in a few weeks’ time, she will most likely clash with the Peter Moody-trained Incentivise (Shamus Award), who booked his ticket to the Group 1 with a fine win in the Turnbull Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) at Flemington yesterday.
The five-year-old gelding had been the talking horse ahead of the Group 1 contest, largely due to his last-start victory in the Makybe Diva Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) on September 11 and he did not let his many supporters down, fending off the strong threat of Young Werther (Tavistock), beating him by half a length. Chapada (Bullet Train) finished another length and three-quarters away in third.
The well-supported multiple Group 1 winner Verry Elleegant (Zed) finished three and a half lengths adrift of the winner in fourth.
Having started his career with co-owner Steve Tregea in Queensland, Incentivise stretched his winning sequence to eight with Saturday’s victory, his last two for new trainer Peter Moody.
“He’s a bloody tough horse, isn’t he,” Moody said. “This will really bring him on for the Caulfield Cup.
“He came into this slightly soft, and I’m still learning about the horse and believe that this will just top him off lovely.
“He’ll just stay at home for the next two weeks at Pakenham. The team do a great job.”
Bred by Tregea’s Windermere Stud, Incentivise (5 g Shamus Award – Miss Argyle by Iglesia) is the eighth of nine foals out of the deceased mare Miss Argyle (Iglesia) and half-brother to Group 3 winner Waikato Stud stallion Ardrossan (Redoute’s Choice) and Queensland stakes winners Bergerac (Drumbeats) and Cheyenne Warrior (Not A Single Doubt).
Shamus Award (Snitzel) is the sire of 16 stakes winners and Incentivise is one four top-flight winners for the Rosemont Stud-based sire, who is standing at the Victorian farm at a fee of $33,000 (inc GST).
Later on in the afternoon at Randwick, Private Eye handed his sire Al Maher (Danehill) with his fifth Group 1 winner when he prevailed in a close finish to win the Epsom Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) yesterday.
Prior to yesterday, the Proven Thoroughbreds-raced gelding’s biggest win came when he took out the Queensland Guineas (Gr 2, 1600m) and he opened his account as a four-year-old when he landed the Show County Handicap (Gr 3, 1200m) on August 21.
However, the Joe Pride-trained gelding’s last few starts this preparation have failed to live up to expectations, when running seventh in the Theo Marks Stakes (Gr 2, 1300m) and he was last seen finishing fourth in the Bill Ritchie Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) on September 18.
But yesterday he regained his winning thread, showing a brilliant burst of speed to come out on top of a blanket finish, beating Aramayo (Poet’s Voice) by a head, while Dalasan (Dalakhani) was another nose further back in third.
Pride – who was forced to watch the race from his home due to coronavirus restrictions – said: “You need luck in these Epsoms. They are hard to win but it all panned out beautifully and he has got an engine this horse. He’s a ripper.
“When he won first-up, he signalled to me that day he had come back bigger and better than ever.
“In his last two starts, it’s just hasn’t worked out for him, but I knew in an Epsom, they are high-pressure races and it would suit him.”
The victory provided Proven Thoroughbreds’ Jamie Walters with his first Group 1 winner and he expressed his delight at the result.
“I watched the race from my study at home and probably caused a noise issue in the street,” Walter said. “I gave the horse a lot of encouragement over the final hundred or so!
“To win my first Group 1 after so many years of trying is very satisfying. I bought my first horse as an owner about 40 years ago, but have been syndicating for about 20.”
Walter, who splits his horses across three stables in two states, is the brother of Hall of Fame trainer the late Guy Walter, and it was his recommendation that led him to Pride.
“When Guy passed away Joe pretty much took over his stable and we earlier had a lot of discussions about trainers and he (Guy) really rated Joe,” said Walter.
“I have about 100 horses on the books – about 20 or so with Joe, 60 to 70 with Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted and now have a bunch of horses with Kerry Parker.
“Joe is a great horseman. He’s not hard on the horses and he’s very hands on. If you have a good horse there’s no one better at prolonging a career. He’s probably got 50 to 60 in work and he doesn’t want to get any bigger so he doesn’t lose that hands–on style.”
Purchased for $62,500 at the Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale in 2019, Private Eye (4 g ex Confidential Queen by Shamardal) is one of two winners out of Sharamdal (Giant’s Causeway) mare Confidential Queen.
Further back the gelding hails from the same family as Listed winner Snippets’ Lass (Snippets), who is better known as the dam of Group 1 winner and multiple champion sire Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) and his Group 3-winning half-brother Hinchinbrook (Fastnet Rock), who stood at Yarraman Park Stud until his untimely death in 2018.
Confidential Queen’s three-year-old is called Secret Spy (Al Maher) and is unraced and she has most recently been covered by Arrowfield Stud shuttler Shalaa (Invincible Spirit), having missed to that same stallion in 2020.
Private Eye joins Delicacy, Almalad, Fat Al and Diamond Drille as Al Maher’s other top flight winners and his overall stakes-winning haul stands at 34. The son of Danehill (Danzig) stands at Stockwell Thoroughbreds for a fee of $8,800 (inc GST).
Meanwhile in New Zealand yesterday, the John Bary-trained Callsign Mav (5 g Atlante – Raadisi by Volksraad) booked his ticket to the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 23, when he landed his second consecutive Group 1 in the Windsor Park Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) at Hawke’s Bay.
Last seen retaining his Tarzino Trophy (Gr 1, 1400m), the gelding continued his excellent form when defeating Prise De Fer (Savabeel) by half a length. Gino Severini (Fastnet Rock) was another length and a quarter adrift in third.
“He is just a tough kind of horse. He’s never going to come flying from the back and it’s never going to look that exciting, but at the end of the day he has a winning habit going,” said Bary.
“I’m really happy for his owners and I’m really thrilled for my staff as well. We will now spend the money to get him across to Melbourne.
“There’s nothing left for him to prove here, so he might as well go there and have a play with the big boys.
“It will be a big test, but if he’s good enough then he’s good enough and if not, we’ll find another race that suits.”
Callsign Mav, who is by Mapperley Stud’s late sire Atlante (Fastnet Rock), is out of three-time winner Raadisi (Volksraad), a sister to the stakes-placed Crimson Lady and a half-sister to the Group 1 winner The Party Stand (Thorn Park).
Further back in his pedigree features Bob Peters’ Group 1 winners Regal Power (Pierro) and Arcadia Queen (Pierro) while champion Australian sprinter of the early 1990s Kenvain (Kenmare) also features on the page. Raadisi died in 2018.
Callsign Mav’s half-sister Henley Road (Rip Van Winkle) is due to have her first foal, by Belardo (Lope De Vega), this year, while another older half-sister Sea Major (Falkirk) has an unnamed three-year-old filly by Tivaci (High Chaparral) who made $6,000 at last year’s NZB Karaka Yearling Sale to the bid of then Singapore-based trainer Lee Freedman.