Tommy Gold (NZ)
2 c Sacred Falls – Gold Rocks by Oratorio
O: Mr M J Chittick, Mr G J Chittick
B: Waikato Stud
T: John O’Shea
W: All Too Hard @ Vinery Handicap, 1100m, May 20, Randwick-Kensington
Tommy Gold (Sacred Falls) shaped as a horse of the future and also provided a timely pedigree update when he scored an easy maiden win on the Kensington track on Wednesday.
A Waikato Stud homebred, Tommy Gold broke through for his first win at his fourth start in the 1100-metre maiden handicap.
Settling near the rear under Glen Boss, he made a looping run around the field to hit the front soon after straightening. Powering down the outside, he defeated Dance (Not A Single Doubt) by a length and a half, with blueblood Narvaez (Vancouver), who is by a Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) winner and out of a Golden Slipper runner-up in Headway (Charge Forward), coming home a further nose away in third.
The John O’Shea-trained colt had shown promise in three starts throughout his two-year-old career, finishing fourth on debut to Time Is Precious (Snitzel) in the Victory Vein Plate (1000m) back in October, followed by a fast-finishing second in a maiden in February and then making late ground for a midfield finish in the Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) behind Mamaragan (Wandjina).
O’Shea yesterday confirmed on Twitter that the colt would be spelled immediately with spring targets in mind, with Glen Boss giving the youngster a tick of approval heading towards bigger and better races.
“I know we’re getting towards the winter, but I think it was a pretty good two-year-old race. I think there were some that trialled really well and, in the enclosure, you could see that there were some really cracking types,” Boss said. “It doesn’t matter what time of the year it is in Sydney, there are good horses being produced all the time, especially young ones, there’s so many of them.
“He’s a horse you can follow because he was pretty impressive and, like the other horses in the race, he’s going to improve again. He was huge in condition. The real good turn of speed, I was quite impressed. He put it away very quickly.
“He got to the front and he idled up the straight and I had nothing taking me on. This is a bit of a rolling track, you have to get your momentum going and when you are getting towards the 200, 250, 300, you want to be going towards your top, it’s one of those tracks.
“I was mindful of that, but when he got to the front, he had absolutely no idea what to do with himself. He was still doing speed but he was idling off. I’m sure if he had something a couple of lengths in front of him, he would have chased it down.
“He’s been unlucky in his races but a lot of it has been greenness. He’s got himself in the wrong spot. Now he’s won, I think he might be able to go on.”
Tommy Gold is from the second crop of the late Waikato Stud stallion Sacred Falls (O’Reilly) and represented the two-time Doncaster Mile (Gr 1, 1600m) winner’s first two-year-old success this season on either side of the Tasman.
Tommy Gold is out of former Western Australian filly Gold Rocks (Oratorio), a winner of the Karrakatta Plate (Gr 2, 1200m) as a two-year-old. She has produced five foals to race for four winners, including consecutive winners of the Matamata Breeders’ Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), Gold Rush (So You Think) and Gold Fever (Savabeel), as well as Gimcrack Stakes (Listed, 1000m) winner Calaverite (Lonhro).
The colonial family dates back over a century. In particular, Tommy Gold’s fourth dam, 1983 Wagga Gold Cup (Listed, 2000m) winner Madame Monet (Koryo) who has produced a number of prolific winners through her descendants.
Tommy Gold’s win couldn’t have come at a better time for Rosemont Stud, who will offer Gold Rush as part of their unreserved online sale through the Magic Millions digital platform next Monday and Tuesday.
Gold Rush, who is currently located at Mapperley Stud in New Zealand, remains So You Think’s (High Chaparral) only Group-winning two-year-old, among his 17 Group winners.
Her first foal is a yearling colt by Savabeel (Zabeel) who has been retained to race by Rosemont Stud. She will be offered in foal to Savabeel once more, while she has also produced an I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) filly that will be offered at Karaka next year.
Gold Rush will be offered as Lot 40.