Rivellino proves too darn fast for Inglis Millennium rivals
Darley’s Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) continued his sustained success in Australia when his juvenile colt Rivellino delivered a huge payday for his connections in the $2 million Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) on Saturday.
Fresh from topping the freshman sires’ table in 2023-24, Too Darn Hot has picked up where he left off this campaign with Rivellino becoming his seventh individual stakes winner in Australia and 21st overall courtesy of a dazzling display in the feature race at Randwick.
The four Inglis Classic Yearling Sale lots by Too Darn Hot – comprising three colts and a filly – which are set to go under the hammer over the next three days will inevitably command close attention from prospective buyers after Rivellino became the latest product off the stallion’s conveyor belt of equine talent to score a big race win.
A $180,000 purchase for his trainer Kris Lees and Justin Bahen from the Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft at last year’s Classic Sale, Rivellino now has more than $1.3 million in the bank after he took the steep rise from maiden grade in his ample stride with a half-length defeat of Darby Racing’s previously unbeaten filly Within The Law (Lucky Vega). Tricolour Racing’s filly Artistic Venture (Trapeze Artist), trained by John O’Shea and Tom Charlton, rounded out the top three.
Lees trained Rivellino’s dam Intrinsic (So You Think) to three race wins which, combined with Too Darn Hot’s seismic impact on the Australian breeding scene, persuaded the Newcastle-based horseman and bloodstock agent Justin Bahen to take a very close look at the colt when he was consigned as Lot 355 by Jo and Greg Griffin’s Lime Country Thoroughbreds draft.
Just under one year after that astute purchase of Intrinsic’s second foal – her third is a colt by Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) winner State of Rest (Starspangledbanner) – Rivellino became his dam’s first winner when he broke his maiden in style at Randwick under apprentice jockey Ben Osmond.
That performance persuaded Lees, who isn’t necessarily noted for his juvenile success, to plot a path towards the Inglis Millennium. After James McDonald had been booked for the ride punters gravitated towards Rivellino, who jumped the second favourite behind Team Freedman’s Price Tag (Zoustar).
With the likes of Profiteer (Capitalist) and Castelvecchio using victory in the Inglis Millennium as the launchpad to a future career at stud, Rivellino is likely to get his chance to emulate the feats of his famous father but in the more immediate future, connections will set about trying to secure a start in the $5 million Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m).
However, as Saturday’s purse does not count towards the prize-money needed to get into the Slipper at Rosehill on March 22.
“He’s a lovely colt with a lot of upside,” said Lees.
“Those colours have been worn by some very good horses, my first ever winner Cherokee Lass carried them when she won her maiden at Newcastle back in the nineties, so they go back a very long way and it is a special feeling.
“He is a horse that has continued to improve while we’ve had him in work, and from the trials to the races he has continued to go the right way.
“We put the blinkers on at his second trial, and he hasn’t had them on since he raced so we thought we’d keep them up our sleeve with a view that he’s probably more of a seven furlong horse in future, but he was pretty good today.
“He’s obviously a smart two-year-old, and I’d say we’ll be pushing on with him to some degree. You could see him in the Slipper, for sure.”
McDonald is unlikely to be on board Rivellino if he were to gain a start in the world’s richest juvenile race, having all but pledged his allegiance to Coolmore’s ultra-impressive debut winner Wodeton (Wootton Bassett).
However, the country’s leading jockey was full of praise for Rivellino, who was born and raised on the fertile pastures of Segenhoe Stud in the Hunter Valley.
“He’s a ripper,” said McDonald after claiming his first Inglis Millennium victory.
“Fair play to Kris, he has always liked him. When he rang and said ‘you’ve got to ride this one because I reckon he’s pretty good’, I didn’t take much convincing.
“I rode him in a recent trial and he gave me an excellent feel, and that was just what we wanted to see today.
“As soon as we had a spot with a bit of cover, we were happy. I thought he would come here and run really well, but I just needed a little bit of luck and I got that from the 800-metre mark. It was a smoothly run race after that.
“He’s a really improving type, and he’s going to be a force to be reckoned with through the carnival.”
Within The Law, whose trainer Bjorn Baker continued his sizzling season with a three-timer at Randwick, lost no admirers despite tasting defeat for the first time in her career.
The $30,000 purchase, who won the first two races in the lucrative Inglis Race Series, is no longer in contention to claim the $2 million bonus available for any horse completing the Inglis Triple Crown, but the $380,000 she collected for finishing second went a long way towards softening the blow for her big group of owners.
“It was another great run,” said jockey Jason Collett who nearly plotted a path to an unlikely victory from barrier 14.
“We had the winner’s back and challenged it late, but he just had a big enough lead on me.”