Up And Coming hopefuls chase illustrious company

Image: Southend, Credit Bradley Photos

Saturday’s Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m) has a history of providing an early spring launching pad for some of Australia’s most talented three-year-olds and Sterling Alexiou hopes stakes-winning colt Southend (Palace Pier) can add his name to that list when he returns at Rosehill.

The Gerald Ryan and Alexiou-trained colt is among a fascinating group of three-year-olds converging on the $250,000 contest, which features everything from proven Group 1 performers to lightly raced youngsters taking their first steps into stakes company.

For Southend, Saturday represents the beginning of a campaign that could take him in several directions, with connections yet to determine whether his future lies around the shorter three-year-old features or over further later in the spring.

A winner on debut at Newcastle in March, Southend wasted little time announcing himself at stakes level when stepping straight up to land Rosehill’s Baillieu Handicap (Gr 3, 1400m) at his second start.

That performance earned him a shot at the Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m), where he finished sixth behind Fireball (Snitzel), but Alexiou believes the son of Palace Pier (Kingman) had reached the end of his first preparation by that stage.

“We’re still feeling our way with him in regards to what his best distance is going to be,” Alexiou said.

“It was an end of prep run [in the Champagne Stakes]. He was up in trip, three weeks between runs and in a pretty strong race.

“He’ll run on Saturday and then go to the Ming Dynasty [on September 12 at Rosehill], then we’ll work out if we go to a Golden Rose or a Caulfield Guineas, or a Dulcify [Stakes] and on to a Spring Champion Stakes.

“We’ll know a lot more after Saturday, and a lot more after the Ming Dynasty.”

Southend has been readied for his return with two trials, most recently defeating highly regarded filly Chayan (I Am Invincible), and Alexiou expects the colt to make his presence felt despite anticipating further improvement from the run.

The colt has drawn barrier nine, leaving connections likely to adopt patient tactics under Dylan Gibbons.

“That’s probably the only disappointing thing. If he could have drawn a decent barrier, he would have had the option to race a bit handier,” Alexiou said.

“Just that start is a bit tricky. We’ll probably have to take our medicine, balance up, and he’ll be finding the line well.”

While Alexiou described Southend as a naturally robust colt who will benefit from Saturday’s outing, the trainer is eager to discover how much progress the three-year-old has made during his spell.

“I’m just really looking forward to getting him back to the races and seeing how much improvement he’s made,” Alexiou said.

Southend will not be afforded an easy return, with Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott launching a three-pronged assault through Plagiarism (Written By) and Savabeel (Zabeel) pair Savagram and Savvy Diamond.

Like Southend, all three could use Saturday’s contest as a stepping stone towards bigger spring assignments, although they arrive at Rosehill with contrasting levels of experience.

Plagiarism is the most seasoned of the Tulloch Lodge trio and Bott expects him to improve from his first-up third behind Steel Will (I Am Invincible) and Savvy Diamond at Rosehill earlier this month.

The son of Written By (Written Tycoon) carried 60 kilograms on that occasion and Bott believes a combination of the weight and tackling 1300 metres first-up told late.

“That wasn’t the original first-up run for him. We had him in an easier maiden race option, so the 1300 first-up might have just told late with that weight, but the race had a good bit of depth to it,” Bott said.

“He’ll improve off it. He meets our other filly [Savvy Diamond] much better at the weights and he’s in good order. He’s got the benefit of having had a couple of racing seasons and preparations.”

At the opposite end of the experience spectrum is the Waikato Stud-bred Savagram, a half-brother to 2023 Australian Derby (Gr 1, 2400m) winner Major Beel who will be pitched into Group company at just his second start after making an immediate impression on debut.

The son of Waikato’s late champion sire Savabeel was sent straight to the front at Canterbury earlier this month and never relinquished that advantage, producing a dominant performance that convinced connections the colt was ready for a significant rise in grade.

His pedigree and racing style give Tulloch Lodge reason to believe there is considerable improvement to come as his distances increase, with the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) already on the radar as a possible longer-term target.

“The Spring Champ could be the grand final we want to try to get to,” Bott said.

“We are still step by step and we’re going to keep it open and be a bit reactive in terms of where we go with him. The important thing is, he’s ready to step up and hopefully that’s what we keep seeing from him each run.”

Savvy Diamond gives Waterhouse and Bott a third string to their bow and, like Savagram, only made her debut this month. 

The filly made a winning debut at Goulburn on August 3 before stepping up sharply in grade when splitting Steel Will and Plagiarism at Rosehill under 52 kilograms. 

While she remains a work in progress, Bott believes Saturday’s race provides an ideal opportunity to give her further experience before she returns to fillies’ company later in the spring.

“Her plan has always been to link back into the Princess Series once they step out to 1400 metres in the Tea Rose [Stakes], and then onto the Flight Stakes,” Bott said.

“She still did a few things wrong last start, so that’s why we wanted to give her a bit more racing experience in this grade before she links in with those better class fillies.

“She’s up and going, she’s got fitness on her side, and she ran well last start.”

Chris Waller, meanwhile, will rely on Diameter (Brazen Beau) and Joint Venture (I Am Invincible), with the former bringing some of the strongest juvenile form into Saturday’s contest.

Diameter broke through at stakes level when successful in the Fernhill Mile (Listed, 1600m) during the autumn before backing up a week later to finish third in the Champagne Stakes.

That Group 1 placing sees him resume with 61 kilograms at the top of the weights, but despite both his stakes win and elite-level placing coming over a mile, Waller expects the son of Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible) to possess enough sharpness to be competitive over Saturday’s shorter trip.

“He’s Group 1-placed over a mile, and a winner over a mile, but he’s by Brazen Beau so I think he’ll find some speed and be competitive first-up,” Waller said.

Stablemate Joint Venture makes the leap into Group company having had just two starts.

The I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) colt finished third on debut before breaking his maiden with a determined performance on a heavy Rosehill track in July and will carry the minimum weight as he attempts to take another step through the grades.

For all the established stakes form represented by Southend and Diameter, and the emerging potential of others, the horse they may all have to overcome is one whose significance extends beyond Saturday’s result.

Genesis Runner (Gun Runner), trained by Richard and Will Freedman, arrives at his first stakes assignment as the $4.20 market elect and the sole Australian representative to have raced for one of North America’s most influential stallions.

The Yulong-owned colt created a piece of history when becoming the first Australian runner and winner for Three Chimneys Farm’s Gun Runner (Candy Ride) with an impressive victory at Newcastle in June.

Fourth on debut at the same venue earlier that month, Genesis Runner took a significant step forward at start two, cruising to a 2.3-length victory over 1300 metres.

That performance was also notable given he defeated older opposition and came on a Heavy 8 surface, while the colt has subsequently been given time to develop ahead of his three-year-old campaign.

Genesis Runner has shown his wellbeing at the trials, winning his two most recent hit-outs, and will resume from barrier one under Kerrin McEvoy.

A $575,000 purchase by Yulong from Widden Stud’s draft at the 2025 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, Genesis Runner is out of the stakes-placed Artie Schiller (El Prado) mare Originator.

However, it is the presence of Gun Runner on the top line of his pedigree that makes his progress particularly intriguing from an Australian bloodstock perspective.

The son of Candy Ride (Ride The Rails) was an outstanding racehorse in the US, winning 12 of his 19 starts and six Grade 1 races, headed by the Breeders’ Cup Classic (Gr 1, 10f) and Pegasus World Cup Invitational (Gr 1, 9f).

His achievements at stud have been equally notable.

Standing at his Kentucky base for US$250,000 (approx. AU$347,230) in 2026, Gun Runner has produced 61 stakes winners from 528 runners at 11.6 per cent, including 15 at the elite level. 

His success has also translated to the sales ring, where his yearlings have regularly commanded seven-figure prices, including at the recent Saratoga Select Yearling Sale where his colt out of stakes-winning mare Four Graces (Majesticperfection) sold for US$4 million (approx. AU$5.55 million) to become the second top lot.

Genesis Runner is one of only three Australian-bred members of his crop and a stakes victory at just his third career start would therefore give the colt another important first, providing Gun Runner with an Australian stakes winner from extremely limited representation, potentially adding a new international dimension to his already formidable stud record.

It would also be fitting if that milestone came in the Up And Coming Stakes.

Since its inaugural running in 1979, the race has repeatedly identified horses destined to make a significant impact both on the track and at stud.

Few renewals illustrate that better than the extraordinary sequence at the beginning of this century.

Exceed And Excel (Danehill) won the race in 2003 before developing into a dual Group 1-winning sprinter and subsequently one of Darley’s most important stallions.

A year later it was Fastnet Rock (Danehill) who broke his maiden in the Up And Coming, with the future dual champion sire going on to win the Lightning Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) and Oakleigh Plate (Gr 1, 1100m) before embarking on an outstanding stud career at Coolmore.

Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice) added his name to the honour roll in 2005 and would ultimately eclipse even his considerable achievements on the track during a record-breaking career at Arrowfield Stud.

More recent winners have also used the race as a springboard towards elite company.

Divine Prophet (Choisir) landed the Up And Coming in 2016 before winning the Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) three starts later, while the 2017 renewal proved an exceptional pointer to the spring in a race won by Dracarys (Snitzel). That field included subsequent Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) winner Trapeze Artist (Snitzel) and Ace High (High Chaparral), who went on to complete the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m)-Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) double.

North Pacific (Brazen Beau) announced himself as a high-class colt with a dominant victory in 2020, while the race again unearthed a star two years ago when Autumn Glow (The Autumn Sun) became the first filly to win the contest.

The Waller-trained now five-year-old was having just her second start when defeating the males at Rosehill and has lost just once in her following 11 starts – with four wins coming at the top level.

Tom Kitten (Harry Angel) and Grand Prairie (Written Tycoon) are among the other recent names on an honour roll that also features Testa Rossa (Perugino) and General Nediym (Nediym).