Moor’s Wild Group 1 ride continues as Snitzel’s Ruler stamps stallion credentials with Moir success
Everest looms for Snowdens’ imposing four-year-old after breakthrough Valley victory
Henry Field expects an Everest (1200m) slot to be locked away as soon as Monday for Wild Ruler after the powerful Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) entire yesterday clinched an important A J Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) win, his first at the highest level, which in turn ensures he has a spot on the Newgate Farm stallion roster guaranteed next year.
The Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Wild Ruler (4 h ex Gypsy Rose by Daaher), owned by Newgate founder Field, China Horse Club and partners, is all but certain to gain a spot in the $15 million, 12-runner Everest after adding a maiden Group 1 to the stallion’s CV at Moonee Valley last night.
There are four Everest slot holders yet to select a horse – the James Harron syndicate, Coolmore, Godolphin and Yulong – after Aquis Farm agreed to terms with Gerry Harvey, John Singleton and trainer Anthony Cummings about running Libertini (I Am Invincible) late yesterday.
Godolphin is expected to select one of its own horses, possibly last night’s Moir third placegetter Trekking (Street Cry), leaving the other three parties to ramp up negotiations with Field.
“All the slot holders are good mates, they are all good friends of mine, so I am sure we will sort something out on Monday when we are back to business,” an elated Field told ANZ Bloodstock News last night.
“We have had communications from every remaining slot holder and I can tell you the honest truth, we haven’t done anything yet … I just wanted to knock that Group 1 off before we locked a slot in.”
And knock it off he certainly did. Wild Ruler had a short-head margin over The Inferno (Holy Roman Emperor) ($6), who did nothing to harm his own Everest appeal, with Trekking ($7.50) one and a half lengths further away in third.
Wild Ruler went into the Moonee Valley race, won in 2016 by Newgate Farm’s leading first season sire Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt), on the back of a first-up second to Nature Strip (Nicconi) in the Concorde Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) at Randwick on September 4.
“He was literally as soft as butter in the Concorde and he was only beaten a couple of lengths by Nature Strip in that … and there was a lot of discussion about whether we ran him in the Moir tonight or last Saturday in The Shorts,” Field said.
“Peter (Snowden) was adamant with the improvement he had after his first-up run that he’d be right there in The Shorts, which would make sense if you take a line through Nature Strip, but we just wanted that Group 1 on his CV and now he will step out in The Everest in three weeks’ time.”
After the decision was made to scratch Wild Ruler from The Shorts (Gr 2, 1100m) in Sydney last Saturday, a race won by confirmed Everest runner Eduardo (Host), connections were left with one conundrum: who would ride the horse in the Moir?
“We spoke to Peter and Paul Snowden last week and Paul decided we will just sit there and watch the races and whomever rode the best would get the ride in the Moir and that rider last Saturday was Daniel Moor,” Field revealed.
“That is how he got the ride and it was decided literally after the last race (at Caulfield) and you can’t beat any sportsperson who has got their confidence up. He couldn’t have ridden him any better.
“He had intent and rode him beautifully.”
Moor, who had not won a Group 1 race in Australia prior to last week’s Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) on Sierra Sue (Darci Brahma), was again in the right place, right time and he made the most of the opportunity.
“I’m really thankful for the opportunities, especially China Horse Club, Newgate Farm, Henry Field and the Snowdens,” Moor said.
“They’ve given me an outstanding opportunity here and I’m very pleased to make the most of it.”
Moor said Wild Ruler was one of the most professional sprinters he has been associated with.
“I rode a smart horse for connections in Super One, but this bloke is just a new level,” Moor said.
“Everything I asked him to do he was the ultimate professional and he’s got a really good turn of foot.
“He’s an electric racehorse and hopefully he can do that at stud now.”
The Snowdens sent Wild Ruler to their Flemington stable on September 16 and he galloped at Moonee Valley on Monday.
“It’s very important to come and have a look at The Valley. It’s a daunting track – everything is really close. It’s a tight turning track so it is always good for them to have a look,” the Snowdens’ Melbourne foreman Andrew Angelone said post-race.
“He’s a professional with everything he does, and I knew that would definitely help him.
“I last saw him in the Coolmore Stud Stakes (last spring), and he’s just matured so much.
“He’s such a lovely type of horse and it’s just fantastic.”
Race favourite Profiteer (Capitalist) ($3.40), who is also in the ownership of Newgate Farm and partners after striking a deal with syndicator Roll The Dice early this year, was forced to travel outside the leader Ballistic Lover (Smart Missile) on a fast tempo and he tired late to finish sixth, albeit only two and a half lengths behind Wild Ruler.
Field was resigned to the fact that Profiteer could not win the Moir 600 metres out, describing the tactics employed by Blaike McDougall and trainer Joe Pride on Ballistic Lover as a “kamikaze mission” which, he says, destroyed the winning chances of both horses.
“When Ballistic Lover took him on, it was a kamikaze mission by her jockey and it didn’t do either horse any favours.
“I am not too worried. I couldn’t believe they did that on Ballistic Lover because you just can’t judge that run tonight given he was taken on. He is a horse who needs to highball in front and when something takes him on, it’s very tough for those types of horses.
“Mick Price wasn’t too worried about it, either, and thankfully we had Wild Ruler, so we were hedging our position.”
Wild Ruler had run in four Group 1s prior to the Moir, for a third in last year’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) and a sixth in The Galaxy (1100m) in March, prior to last night’s victory.
The entire, though, displayed immense talent from day one, winning the $500,000 Inglis Nursery (RL, 1000m) on debut in the December of his two-year-old season before a three-start late autumn campaign which culminated in a shot at the J J Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1400m), which was taken out by Rothfire (Rothesay).
At three, he won the Heritage Stakes (Listed, 1100m) first-up on this day 12 months ago and followed up with a victory in the Roman Consul Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m). He also won the Fireball (Listed, 1100m) and the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (Gr 2, 1200m) during the autumn.
Wild Ruler is one of a cohort of colts purchased each year by the syndicate led by Newgate Farm and China Horse Club, a partnership which has already seen them retire dual Group 1 winner Russian Revolution (Snitzel) to stud after successfully racing him on at four.
He was a $525,000 purchase from the 2019 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale from the Kia Ora Stud draft.
“We have had a lot of success buying Snitzels. He was my favourite Snitzel at the sale,” Field recalled.
“Funny thing is, Gerald Ryan and I were talking at the sale and he had the same opinion of the horse and he’s had more Snitzels through the barn than anyone.
“He is a gorgeous horse out of a very fast mare, Gypsy Robin, and she has a huge US pedigree and he is by a champion stallion.
“He is one of the best Group 1 sprinters in Australia, so we are in great shape.”
The 16th Group 1 winner for his champion sire Snitzel, a list which includes Trapeze Artist, Shamus Award, Redzel and Estijaab, Wild Ruler is out of the US Grade 2 winner Gypsy Robin (Daaher), who was purchased by Alex Kingston on behalf of Kia Ora Stud at the 2013 Keeneland November Sale for $750,000.
Gypsy Robin, a half-sister to Listed winner Tiger Cat Lilly (Tale Of The Cat), has a two-year-old and yearling filly by Coolmore’s US Triple Crown-winning shuttler American Pharoah (Pioneerof The Nile).
Wild Ruler could be the start of a big 24 hours for Field, China Horse Club and their partners with four colts in the Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) at Rosehill: Group 1 winners Artorius (Flying Artie) and Captivant (Capitalist) as well as Group winners Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice) and In The Congo (Snitzel).
Nichols has a new star in Stocks Stakes
Shane Nichols trained the winner of the Stock Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) for the third time in five years when his progressive four-year-old So You Assume (4 m So You Think – Remlaps Jewel by Choisir) led from start to finish in controlling the mile mares’ race at Moonee Valley yesterday.
A winner of a maiden at Wodonga in February this year, So You Assume has risen through the ranks, and entered yesterday’s first assignment at stakes level as an $8.50 chance having won three of her last four races in benchmark grade, as she added to the all-the-way wins of Nichols’ Group 1 winner I Am A Star (I Am Invincible) in the 2017 and 2018 runnings of the race.
While So You Assume dictated proceedings in front, the ruckus that ensued behind presented several hard-luck stories, most notably for the Star Thoroughbreds-owned Only Words (Sweynesse) who found herself penned in for fourth, while Impecunious (Sacred Falls) and Rich Hips (Written Tycoon) encountered traffic on their journeys in finishing fifth and sixth. Magna Bella (Magnus) trailed one and a half lengths behind So You Assume to finish second, while Quantum Mechanic (Deep Field) was a head third.
Coolmore stallion So You Think (High Chaparral), the most active sire last year, ended the previous season with 12 individual stakes winners, only shy of former champion sire Snitzel’s (Redoute’s Choice) 13, and So You Assume became the second stakes winner for the stallion this new season following the win of Think It Over in the Chelmsford Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) at Randwick earlier this month.
It took until the final race of Moonee Valley’s first evening meet for a front-running winner, delivered to perfection by Dean Yendall, who was in the saddle for each of her last three wins.
“I didn’t want to take away from the way she’s been racing of late,” said Yendall, in referencing the move to the front on the mare from barrier seven. “My only worry was that she hadn’t raced for 40-odd days.
“I was just hoping that the inside of the track hadn’t had too much wear and tear by the time I went and bit it up.
“She began cleanly and was out in front doing no work. She was a bit keen still and wanted to get it over and done with but I got her to switch off just enough to get a few sweet sectionals.
“I asked her to quicken there at the tabaret, threw a few coins in the pokies, and off we went.
“She’s a four-year-old mare but the way she carries on you’d think she was a two-year-old. I think Shane will have high expectations of her after she won that quite comfortably today.”
So You Assume, out of a three-time winning half-sister to Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Manawanui (Oratorio), was a $40,000 buy for Nichols at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale and is owned by Gerard and Kaz Lazare.
She is the first foal out of Choisir (Danehill Dancer) mare Remlaps Jewel, who was bought off the track by Willow Park Stud’s Glenn Burrows and sold by him in foal carrying So You Assume at the 2017 Magic Millions National Sale for $80,000 to James O’Brien’s Lauriston Thoroughbred Farm. Two years later, O’Brien sold Remlaps Jewel for $90,000 to Twin Hills Stud when in foal to Written Tycoon (Iglesia), with the resulting filly making $30,000 to Sunshine Coast trainer Tom Button at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
Remlaps Jewel has a yearling colt by Smart Missile (Fastnet Rock) but missed last year.
Forgot You chalking up memorable record
Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young have designs on a Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) with last night’s Stutt Stakes (Gr 2, 1600m) winner Forgot You but first the training couple will give the Savabeel (Zabeel) colt the chance to win at Group 1 level in the Caulfield Guineas (1600m).
The Inglis Ready2Race Sale graduate, who raced three times in his first campaign as a juvenile including twice in stakes company, has clearly improved this preparation, as his pedigree suggested he would, and Young is not afraid to take the high road towards the Derby on October 30 by keeping Forgot You (3 c ex Simply You by O’Reilly) at 1600 metres for his next start.
The Cranbourne-based trainer was pleased with the way Forgot You finished off the Moonee Valley race against his own age.
“He looked like he was starting to hit a flat spot at the top of the corner, and I thought ‘oh he’s going to drop out here’, but to his credit he got some room,” Young said.
“There was pretty good tempo on and then they slowed up a little bit and I think he just takes a bit to get around that corner and then once he does balance up, he’s away.
“When you’re winning a Group 2 here over a mile, you’ve got to have a crack at the Caulfield Guineas.”
An in-form Daniel Moor, who rode Sierra Sue (Darci Brahma) to victory for similar connections in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Caulfield last week, was able to sustain a long run on Forgot You to score by a nose over Mr Mozart (Snitzel) and Daily Bugle (Press Statement) who was a neck away in third.
It was Forgot You’s second win in a row, having also won at Moonee Valley on September 4 over 1500 metres when Moor was also in the saddle, a performance which earned the colt the ANZ Bloodstock News Maiden of the Week accolade.
Moor indicated Forgot You had learned to relax and that he wouldn’t be left flat-footed when he steps up to 2000 metres and beyond.
“I’d say once he gets up to his right trip, he won’t do that anymore,” the winning rider said.
Forgot You is one of 12 three-year-olds that remain in contention for the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) back at Moonee Valley on October 23, but Young was understandably not jumping the gun about heading to the weight-for-age race against the likes of Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux) and Verry Elleegant (Zed) with her three-year-old colt.
“It’s better to pay early than the late fee later,” Young said.
“Sometimes these horses step up and you can’t win them if you’re not in them.”
Bred by Garry Chittick of Waikato Stud, Forgot You hails from a potent New Zealand family, being out of the winning mare Simply You (O’Reilly), a three-quarter sister to Rare Insight, the dam of Group 1 winner Steps In Time (Danehill Dancer), Bonny O’Reilly (O’Reilly) and Escadaire (O’Reilly) and a half-sister to the stakes-placed Beckham (Pins) and Ngarimu (Savabeel).
Hollywood is the dam of the Waikato Stud-raced Group 2 winner Acting (Savabeel). Forgot You’s second dam is the dual Group 1-winning sprinter Glamour Puss (Tale Of The Cat).
Forgot You was withdrawn from both the New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale and the Inglis Australian Easter sales last year before being sold through New Zealand’s Ohukia Lodge draft at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale last October for $330,000 to Busuttin Racing.
Simply You was covered by Waikato Stud’s first season sire Super Seth (Dundeel) last season.
New Zealand’s champion stallion Savabeel is the sire of 116 individual stakes winners.