Go Racing duo to The Metropolitan
Go Racing are set to have a strong hand in the Gr.1 The Metropolitan (2400m) at Royal Randwick on October 4.
The New Zealand-based syndicators have a pair of Newcastle Cup winners entered in the premier staying event of the Sydney Spring Racing Carnival, the Chris Waller-trained duo Soul Of Spain and Etna Rosso.
Exciting stayer Soul Of Spain became the second consecutive winner of the Newcastle Cup for Go Racing on Friday, emulating the feat of his stablemate Etna Rosso last year.
Sent out as the $2.45 favourite, Soul Of Spain jumped well from barrier one with Zac Lloyd on board, settling handily in third position on the rail, where he stayed throughout before kicking away on the home bend to win by three-quarters of a length.
“Zac rode him beautifully, Go Racing’s General Manager Matt Allnutt said. “He said he settled nicely and showed a really good turn of foot in the straight. He’s very keen to stick with him in The Metropolitan but we’ll let Chris make that decision.”
The five-year-old Irish-bred son of Phoenix Of Spain was purchased by Go Racing in partnership with Blandford bloodstock’s Stuart Boman from the Arqana Breeze Up Sale in 2023.
“He won his maiden in Ireland over 3300m and looked a bit one-paced doing it, but he’s really adapted to Australian racing brilliantly,” Allnutt said.
“We haven’t really stepped him out to the extreme distances here, but we do believe he is capable of getting further, so it’s really exciting having him heading towards The Metropolitan.
“He has a good group of owners too, some of whom are also in Etna Roso, and they’ve certainly got a super exciting stayer on their hands.”
Soul of Spain has won his last four in a row, earning him 7/1 equal second favouritism for the for The Metropolitan, with the NZ TAB.
Meanwhile, Etna Rosso finished an eye-catching third in the Gr.3 Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday behind stablemate Birdman, who is the current $4 favourite for The Metropolitan.
“He was awesome, he made up a lot of ground in the straight and really hit the line strongly,” Allnutt said. “He’ll be ready to peak third-up in The Metropolitan. So hopefully we will have two really nice chances in there.”
Etna Rosso who finished fifth in last year’s edition of The Metropolitan, is currently paying $13 for this year’s race.
Soul Of Spain and Etna Rosso are both a credit to Go Racing’s successful global strategy, where they purchase two-year-old horses to race in the northern hemisphere with Joseph O’Brien before sending them down to Australia to target the lucrative stakes on offer as older horses.
Closer to home, Allnutt said he was pleased with the run of Stephen Marsh-trained three-year-old filly Little Black Dress, who finished third in the Gr.3 Sunline Vase (1400m) at Ellerslie.
“She got back to some of her best form,” he said. “She’s still doing a lot wrong, but she’s a filly that’s heading in the right direction and once we iron out those wee chinks in her armour, I think she’s certainly Group quality.”
“The team are really firing; we’ve got some lovely horses coming up aimed at nice races, and it’s onwards and upwards from here.”