Stretan Ruler adds to family honour with Silver Slipper win
Pakenham trainer Phillip Stokes suggested Melbourne’s two-year-olds might be superior to Sydney’s this season after his well-related colt Stretan Ruler (Wild Ruler) easily raised his sire’s first black-type winner in Rosehill’s Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) on Saturday.
Well ridden from gate four of nine by Chad Schofield, Stretan Ruler – whose half-brother was second-top lot at the recent Inglis Classic Yearling Sale – perched behind a group of three leaders in the running, went past them at the 350 metres and exploded away for the most straightforward of wins, by 3.47 lengths.
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s Eviction Notice (Stay Inside) continued the strong form of his first season sire – a Newgate Farm barnmate to Wild Ruler – by claiming second despite drifting to $31. The colt also lived up to his last-start third in the Canonbury Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) and the early form he showed in winning by 7.82 lengths at Kensington’s first official trials of the season.
Chris Waller’s boom colt Hidrix (Extreme Choice) had his colours lowered in running third as a solidly supported $3.60 favourite, providing another example of the patchy two-year-old form widely seen in recent seasons after becoming the talk of the town with his Canonbury victory.
And indeed Stokes would have it that Sydney’s juvenile scene this term is lagging behind the quality of Melbourne’s.
While Bjorn Baker’s Warwoven (Sword Of State) maintains his long-held spot atop Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) betting, the southern capital has produced a range of head-turning two-year-olds this season.
They include Big Sky (Bivouac), Hard Kick (All Too Hard), Blue Diamond winner Streisand (Magnus) and Unit Five (Supido), who’s trained out of Ciaron Maher’s Cranbourne stable, and kicked off with a Caulfield victory before taking the Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast.
Stokes indicated this belief had helped in his decision to scratch Stretan Ruler as the first emergency from Saturday’s Blue Diamond, after he’d drawn barrier 19, and heads to Sydney. The colt was the first scratching out of the Group 1 on Thursday, but would have gained a run had Stokes elected to wait, with two runners above him taken out.
“We didn’t know how to line up the [Sydney] form to be honest,” he told Sky Thoroughbred Central after the Silver Slipper. “But it looks like the Melbourne horses might have an edge over the Sydney horses.
“He [Stretan Ruler] is a nice horse. We thought of having him in the Blue Diamond but scratched because of the barrier.
“He put paid to them, conducted himself beautifully, and is a very exciting colt going forward.”
Stokes said Stretan Ruler would have his next start in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) on March 7 before going to the Slipper two weeks later.
Bookmakers responded to his Silver Slipper win by making him second favourite for the world’s richest two-year-old race at $11, behind Warwoven at $8.
Stokes said Stretan Ruler, who debuted with a 0.1-length second in Caulfield’s Merson Cooper Stakes (Listed, 1000m) in November, had improved markedly from his first-up fourth of eight in the Blue Diamond Prelude (Gr 3, 1100m) behind Closer To Free (Street Boss), who franked the form by running second in the Blue Diamond.
“I thought he was there today. I thought his first-up run, he was found wanting,” Stokes said. “He filled me with confidence before the race today.
“The trip away, he’ll take a lot of benefit from this. It was his first time going the Sydney way too, and he conducted himself well there too. Chad Schofield gave him a lovely ride.”
Stretan Ruler becomes the second stakes winner for former Godolphin mare Sretan (Bernadini), who managed only a Kembla Grange maiden third-placing amid three starts but has now had four winners from as many foals to race, including two stakes winners.
Stokes’s colt follows his triple stakes-winning half-sister and stablemate Stretan Angel, who’s won three stakes races for Stokes up to Group 2 level, alongside three placings in Group 1 sprints.
Stretan Ruler also becomes the first stakes winner amid eight runners for Wild Ruler (Snitzel), the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) hero who stood his fourth season at Newgate last spring for $27,500 (inc GST).
The handsome bay colt is another example of the value that can be found in the bottom half of the market at the Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, having been bought there by Stokes and Suman Hedge Bloodstock from the Willow Park Stud draft for $220,000. In winning the Group 2, the colt became the 49th individual stakes winner produced under Glenn Burrows’ ownership.
He was bred by Cheval Properties and the Hunter Valley’s Kirks Bridge Farm, who sold his half-brother by Harry Angel (Dark Angel) for $540,000 at Inglis Classic earlier this month, making him the second top lot of that sale. He was purchased by the Equine Growth Fund, Blueblood Thoroughbreds and SP Bloodstock.
Sretan now has a Harry Angel filly at foot, and was covered last spring by Coolmore shuttler City Of Troy (Justify).