Neveu and Ko Phangan emerge as Midnight Dynamite strikes again

Homebred gelding Neveu (Rich Enuff) became his father’s 11th stakes winner when he held on to prevail in a thrilling two-horse war in the South Australian Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

 

Prepared at the track by boutique trainer Jon O’Connor, Neveu was striving for his second win from five starts after scoring at the same venue three runs earlier, but despite sound form over 1200 metres since, was largely unwanted in betting at $17 over the extra trip in the Sires’.

 

Jumping well from gate six for Andrew Stead, Nevue travelled sweetly in third place, one off the fence as the Waterhouse-Bott, China Horse Club eastern raider, the $750,000 yearling Spain (Snitzel), set a decent pace at $8 at his second start.

 

As the leaders dominated, Nevue hit the front at the 300 and appeared set for a comfortable victory. To his credit, the Sydney colt fought back doggedly on the inside and looked like he might snatch an unlikely win, but Nevue got the bob in on the line to score by a tiny 0.04 lengths.

 

Raced by his breeder Chris Martin, Neveu raised a ninth stakes win for Morphettville-based O’Connor, who has a small team of 15 horses on his books.

 

“It’s very satisfying,” O’Connor told ANZ News. 

 

“I had this race marked out for him many weeks ago now, so it’s great to have won it.

 

“I wanted to be on speed, because the track was racing that way, and he’s got  a lovely long stride. We’d been holding him up in his six furlong races because we didn’t want him going too hard, but today I said to Andrew, ‘Let’s let him use that lovely big stride and trust our judgement that he’ll run out the 1400 metres strongly’.

 

“I was pretty confident in the straight when we hit the lead. And then it’s your natural inclination to look back in the field. Nothing was coming at us so I thought we were looking alright.

 

“Then I looked back and Spain was coming again. I’ve seen enough of Waterhouse-Bott horses to know they don’t lay down. So it was pretty nervy at the end but I did think we’d hung on.”

 

The first foal of a mare O’Connor had trained for Martin – two-time Gawler winner Bubbles McGinty (Akeed Mofeed) – Neveu had impressed his trainer from the outset.

 

“Every now and again a horse walks past you, at a yearling sale or somewhere, and you’re just blown away,” O’Connor said. “He walked into the stable and I thought ‘Wowee’. He was just an absolute stunner.

 

“I said to my wife, ‘That horse who just stepped in will be the best horse we’ve had for a long time’. They can’t look that good and not be any good.

 

“Aside from his body, he’s just got the most beautiful head and eye. He’s highly intelligent, and you knew that right from his first time in the barriers. He’s trained himself basically”

 

O’Connor said Neveu – French for ‘nephew’ – may now be primed for black type races late in the Melbourne spring. He’s already ventured there two starts ago, for a midweek fifth at Caulfield Heath.

 

Alternatively, he could be held up for longer, with Adelaide’s autumn carnival in mind.

 

“He’s going to the paddock on Monday, and we’ll have a look at the program,” O’Connor said. “There might be a nice three-year-old Group 3 for him in Melbourne, maybe the Sandown Guineas.

 

“But we’ve got our own autumn carnival in Adelaide as well, so we’ll just have to look at the program and work it all out.”

 

Neveu became the 11th stakes winner from 292 runners (3.7 per cent) for Rich Enuff (Written Tycoon), who’ll stand his 11th stud season this spring at Woodside Park for a slightly reduced $11,000.

 

The rising 15-year-old’s progeny list is headed by Rob Heathcote’s mare Abounding, who’s won five stakes races – including the rich Magic Millions Gold Coast Guineas (RL, 1400m), and been G1 placed.

 

Spain indicated he’d have a future with his determined effort, second-up after debuting with a fading fifth of seven at Warwick Farm.

 

The Henry Dwyer trained visitor And There You Go (Hellbent) took third at $21 as the first female home, while Phillip Stokes’s filly Brevitas (Doubtland) managed only sixth as $2.90 favourite.

 

Promising colt Ko Phangan (Ole Kirk) stamped himself a spring Classics contender as he sealed the Busuttin-Young stable their third win in four editions of the Byerley Handicap (1800m) at Flemington on Saturday.

 

Despite drawing only five runners, the time-honoured two-year-old feature – offering a VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) ballot exemption to the winner – unfolded in intriguing fashion before Ko Phangan shed his maiden status at start No.7 in a style portending higher and longer honours later on.

 

Well ridden by Craig Williams, the strongly backed $2.05 favourite sat behind a moderate pace as the juveniles tackled their longest distance to date.

 

Though the field was small, the soft tempo contributed to a tight bunching and spots of interference on the home turn, with Williams having to angle around the tiring and wayward leader Stunning Kitty (Tagaloa).

 

Jye McNeil sent $8 shot Achy Breaky Heart (Nicconi) boldly to the lead passing the 400 metres in the four-wide spot but, balancing up to his inside, Ko Phangan knuckled down to his task and was too strong in the run home, winning by 2.5 lengths.

 

Archie Alexander’s Notified (Maurice) took second at $3, ahead of Patrick Payne’s Achy Breaky Heart (Nicconi).

 

While the Derby has been the obvious target for Byerley winners through the years, co-trainer Natalie Young nominated the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) as the shining target on the horizon for Ko Phangan.

 

“It’s a nice form race. They normally carry on,” Young said of the Byerley.

 

“Hopefully, we know he gets some distance, maybe a Caulfield Guineas in the spring. He’ll have a couple of weeks’ let-up now, then we’ll just pick a path and head towards the Guineas hopefully.”

 

Busuttin and Young won the Byerley last year with the ill-fated Arcora (Justify), who subsequently ran second in the Derby and Caulfield’s Autumn Classic (Gr 2, 1800m) before winning Flemington’s Australian Cup Prelude (2000m), and breaking down in the Tulloch Stakes (Gr 2, 2000m) at Rosehill.

 

The stable was also successful in the 2023 Byerley with Sunsource (Zoustar), who ran second in Flemington’s Super Impose Stakes (Listed, 1800m) at three.

 

Remaining a colt despite some talk of gelding, Ko Phangan had led in his last start third in Flemington’s Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m), but Young was happy to see Williams sit behind the leader this time.

 

“He jumped really clean and I was thinking, ‘Please don’t lead’, because the last couple of starts I wanted him to sit and chase,” she told Racing.com. “Today he took a sit and was too good for them, so that’s good to see.”

 

Williams rode Ko Phangan to a first-up sixth at Caulfield on May 9, which he said was disappointing despite being over the unsuitably short 1100m.

 

“After that run they gave him some time off and started him back up again,” Williams said.

 

“He just didn’t run well, and I said, ‘Maybe the ultimate gear change?’ But they persisted, he’s still a boy, and they’ve been able to train him up with that in mind. His two runs leading into today were the reason why he was favourite.

 

“I like the fact he was nice and dominant late.”

 

Speaking of the crowding entering the straight, Williams said: “My horse was lucky enough to travel well, so I had a horse I was able to manoeuvre and hold my line on, and that’s pretty important in that part of the race.”

 

Bred by A List Stud, Ko Phangan was bought by Busuttin Racing for $260,000, from Sullivan Bloodstock’s draft at Magic Millions Gold Coast.

 

“He just sort of caught my eye, and I thought he’s be a really nice, three-year-old Guineas type of horse,” Young said.

 

“We looked after him. We didn’t send him up to the Magic Millions, but in the lead-up he ran second to Unit Five, who won the Magic Millions (2YO Classic).

 

“Hopefully that might pay off in the spring. He’s an Ole Kirk colt, and a lovely looking rooster, so hopefully he can go on.”

 

Ko Phangan is the third live foal for Singing Sand (Poet’s Voice), a winner of three races, including in Sydney city class, and three-quarter sister to the Moonee Valley Listed victor Zubbaya (Dubawi).

 

Singing Sand now has a weanling filly by Newgate Farm’s Tassort (Brazen Beau), and missed to Prost (Snitzel) last spring.

 

The colt became the 55th winner from 105 runners for Ole Kirk (Written Tycoon), who has seven stakes winners, and is standing at Vinery Stud this spring for $110,000, up from $99,000.

 

Saturday’s victory took Ole Kirk to third place by winners (45) on the Australian second season sires’ table, while he’s fifth by earnings and fourth by stakes winners (four).

 

The horse of the winter Midnight Dynamite (Pierata) may be headed to the $3 million The Big Dance (Listed, 1600m) after claiming his second stakes victory – aptly – in the Winter Challenge (Listed, 1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

 

Ridden for the first time by Tommy Berry, the Bjorn Baker-Darby Racing gelding settled just ahead of midfield, one off the fence, from gate four, striding powerfully as a heady early pace settled into an average tempo.

 

Popped into the clear six-wide rounding the turn, the four-year-old $3.20 favourite dominated once again in the straight, making light work of the heavy 9 track to score by 2.94 lengths.

 

Consistent Melbourne visitor Just Folk (Magnus) took second at $14 for trainer Gavin Bedggood, while the Ryan-Alexiou trained General Salute (Russian Revolution) was third at $6.

 

It was Midnight Dynamite’s fourth win from six starts alongside two placings this campaign, in which he’s ascended to record two black type triumphs after resuming on Anzac Day with a Randwick benchmark 78 success, before a second-up Doomben class 6 victory under James McDonald.

 

With Midnight Dynamite having earned $396,000 in this winter preparation, the Baker stable said he would now be aimed at The Big Dance on Melbourne Cup day.

 

“We’d like to get him into the Big Dance, if he can run a mile, which on that, it looks like he might,” Baker’s stable foreman Luke Hilton told reporters.

 

“James said after Queensland that he thinks he’s a miler and he also said at the time he was a lightweight Stradbroke horse, which might have been a big rap at the time, but he might not be far wrong when we’re finished.”

 

Midnight Dynamite has now won nine times from 22 runs including his two black type victories, with Saturday’s coming two starts after his Civic Stakes (Listed, 1400m) success at Randwick.

 

He’s now scored two wins from as many starts on heavy going, alongside five soft track successes and two on good surfaces.

 

Berry said Midnight Dynamite was building a highly impressive record, “And it’s easy to see why”.

 

“He’s got a great racing style. He’s very versatile,” the experienced jockey told Channel 7.

 

“He’s had a few runs this preparation as well, and a trip to Queensland and back. It shows what a great job Bjorn and the team do at home to keep these horses in great shape.”

 

Asked if a first-time rise to the 1600m of The Big Dance would pose Midnight Dynamite any problems, Berry said: “I wouldn’t think so, it just depends how fast the race is run.

 

“Today there looked a real genuine speed on paper, but once everyone found their spot, they seemed to back off that speed a little bit.

 

“He was able to travel strongly and had the race put away quite quickly.

 

“He’s just so versatile he goes on any sort of ground, and he’s a nice one to have in the backyard, that’s for sure.

 

“He actually let down today like he was on a good four.”

 

Bred by Southern Highlands nursery Rheinwood Pastoral, Midnight Dynamite was passed in short of an $80,000 reserve at Magic Millions Gold Coast, but was then offered again by Widden Stud at the Inglis HTBA sale. Darby Racing bought him for $48,000.

 

Widden’s Matt Comerford recently told ANZ News that Midnight Dynamite had struck a fence prior to the Magic Million sale, developing a haematoma on his chest which didn’t help his sale prospects at the Gold Coast, before Darby swooped at his second sale.

 

“I’ve got to thank Matt Comerford,” the syndicator’s chief Scott Darby told ANZ last month. “We’ll usually ask them (Widden) which horses we might be interested in, and he gave a good push to this one. He said he’d had an issue which had been resolved, and he’d been good enough to make one of the top sales in Magic Millions Gold Coast.”

 

Midnight Dynamite also fitted Darby’s model in many ways.

 

“We’ve bought a couple at HTBA that have been through another sale and been passed in, or had a setback that’s resolved itself. You can find good value that way,” he said.

 

Midnight Dynamite is the third foal of Talented Miss (Al Maher), who won twice and has had three winners from as many runners. After missing in 2024, she’s now in-foal to Woodside Park’s Celestial Legend (Dundeel).

 

Raced by a large group of Darby clients, Midnight Dynamite is one of three stakes winners from 172 runners for 11-year-old Pierata (Pierro), who’ll stand at Yulong this spring for $33,000, down from $55,000.