O’Shea hoping lack of experience won’t count against More Territories
Percy Sykes-bound filly among Sydney-based trainer’s strong Randwick hand
More Territories (Territories) will attempt to make up lost ground, or that arguably should read experience, when the talented juvenile tackles the $1 million Percy Sykes (Gr 2, 1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Although John O’Shea’s talented filly won her first start at Randwick’s inner Kensington circuit late last month, the Sydney-based trainer concedes it’s been a tough season for lightly raced juveniles to match up against their battle-hardened contemporaries.
But O’Shea hopes that Ron Finemore’s and John Leaver’s homebred More Territories can defy that trend in the Percy Sykes, an increasingly sought after seven-figure autumn target for two-year-old fillies.
It’s been difficult for those progressive two-year-olds to compete against more seasoned ones this year because of the strength of the two-year-old racing
Among More Territories’s rivals is the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon), whose connections elected to dodge the ATC Sires Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Randwick last weekend when the surface was considered likely to resemble more of a lake than a racetrack.
Of course, in the end it didn’t, the track was even upgraded from a Heavy 9 to an 8 throughout the day. Late on Wednesday, Australian Turf Club officials rated Randwick for day two of The Championships as a Soft 7.
Other Percy Sykes rivals such as Eneeza (Exceed And Excel), a Merson Cooper Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winner last December, the Gimcrack Stakes (Gr 3, 1000m) performed Erno’s Cube (Rubick) and Queensland-trained fillies El Morzillo (Star Witness) and Devine Force (Cosmic Force) all raced prior to Christmas and have multiple starts under their belts.
“The first runner out of the race won convincingly [Zeitung at Kembla Grange], so there’s form out of the race,” O’Shea told ANZ Bloodstock News.
“It’s been difficult for those progressive two-year-olds to compete against more seasoned ones this year because of the strength of the two-year-old racing, but she is a quality filly who will map well in a fast-run race.”
While More Territories has had just a single start, O’Shea and the Rosemont Alliance have played an even longer waiting game with exciting three-year-old colt Schwarz (Zoustar) who is set to face his biggest and most important challenge to date in the Arrowfield 3YO Sprint (Gr 2, 1200m) on the same card.
The Zoustar (Northern Meteor) colt won his first start in a Gosford maiden last October, quickly progressing to black-type races at his next two runs, both in Melbourne, where he won the Springtime Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Flemington, enough to convince O’Shea and the Rosemont crew he was a genuine Sydney autumn colt.
He was beaten narrowly by Brave Mead (Brave Smash), who was tragically fatally injured in a trackwork incident on Tuesday, in the Darby Munro (Listed, 1200m) first-up but O’Shea hasn’t lost faith in the stallion prospect.
A succinct O’Shea said: “He went into the race with a lot of improvement and he seems to have taken that improvement.”
On what he describes as a hard day, O’Shea also possesses a strong Randwick hand with Saltaire (Star Turn) set to avoid a clash with the colts and geldings in the Arrowfield and instead take on the fillies and mares in the Sapphire Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
Saltaire, last season’s Inglis Nursery (RL, 1000m) winner, has endured a frustrating run of placings at stakes level at three, finishing runner-up twice as well as placing third twice either side of a spell in Melbourne, her first-up performance beaten only by Robert Sangster Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) bound Estriella (I Am Invincible) and Arkansaw Kid (Harry Angel).
Returning to Sydney for the first time this season, the Max Whitby and Neil Werrett-owned filly was bred by Bernard and Lawrence Stapleton and sold through the Vinery Stud draft at the 2022 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
And it’s the thoroughbred breeding heartland of the Hunter Valley where O’Shea intends to head with Saltaire after the Sapphire Stakes, the 29-time Group 1-winning trainer earmarking the Denise’s Joy Stakes (Listed, 1100m) at Scone on May 18 with the daughter of Vinery Stud stallion Star Turn (Star Witness).
“She is a very consistent mare, she didn’t have a lot of luck in the spring. She ran in a pretty strong race first-up and went very well,” O’Shea said.
“She’ll probably go to Scone for the fillies race up there.”
O’Shea couldn’t be happier with his Sydney Cup (Gr 1, 3200m) hope Athabascan (Almanzor), who ran fourth in the Tancred Stakes (Gr 1, 2400m) last start, declaring: “I think the key for him is getting to two miles.”
