NZ Racing News

Go Racing will line up three runners in Group One races at Royal Randwick on Saturday, spearheaded by Gr.1 Asahi Super Dry Metropolitan (2400m), $5.50 favourite Soul Of Spain.

Amongst Soul Of Spain’s opposition in the A$750,000 race is another Go Racing-owned runner in Etna Rosso, who is currently at $11. Both are trained by Champion trainer Chris Waller, who is looking to land his seventh Metropolitan and has Birdman ($6), Travolta ($8), and More Felons ($18) competing.

Soul Of Spain has drawn barrier 11 of 18 and will have Zac Lloyd on board, while Etna Rosso will jump from barrier two with Jay Ford in the saddle.

Waller described the Go Racing pair as ready to peak.

“He’s a good honest horse, he’s a nice horse, he helps himself, barrier is OK, distance, no problem, he’s ready to peak,” he said of Soul Of Spain.

“Etna Rosso has drawn well, he’s going well, second up was a great run over 2000m, he’s ready to peak here.”

Soul Of Spain has won his last four races, he is unbeaten in three starts this season, and he comes into the race as the last start winner of the Gr.3 Newcastle Cup (2300m).

“He looks to be a stayer of real promise,” Go Racing’s Matt Allnutt said. “He’s still lightly raced, but he’s a really exciting talent.

“He was purchased from the UK, where he won one race, and he has come down and just grown another leg, he’s fitted into the Australian racing scene so well.

“He will need luck from barrier 11 but Zac Lloyd was determined to stick with him and he gets in with 50.5kgs to carry.”

Etna Rosso produced an eye-catching run when finishing third behind Birdman in the Kingston Town Stakes (2000m) last start.

“His run in the Kingston Town was awesome,” Allnutt said. “He made up so much ground, he took a lot of ground off Birdman who has drawn wide, so he will more than likely be spotting him a few lengths at the top of the straight so if he runs up to what he did last start, he could be right there.

“The 2400m holds no fears, Jay Ford rides at 50kgs and he should get a lovely run from barrier two.”

Both Soul Of Spain and Etna Rosso are graduates of Go Racing’s successful dual-hemisphere racing model, where they have been purchasing two-year-olds, in partnership with Blandford Bloodstock’s Stuart Boman, in the United Kingdom to race with trainer Joseph O’Brien, before bringing them to Australia to target the lucrative prizemoney on offer with Waller.

Carded as Race 9,  the Metropolitan jumps at 7:45pm Saturday NZ time.

Go Racing’s other Group One contender on Saturday, Lord Penman is somewhat of a surprise entry in the feature race of the day, the A$1.5 million Gr.1 TAB Epsom (1600m).

“Lord Penman was also nominated for a benchmark 94 race over 1600m on Saturday, but Chris thinks the Epsom is the better option for him.”

Formerly trained by Stephen Marsh in New Zealand, Lord Penman has had two starts in Australia for Chris Waller, finishing second in a benchmark 94 race Rosehill over 1200m in mid-August and seventh of eleven in his last start at Randwick in a benchmark 88 race over 1600m.

“He’s the lowest rated horse in the field and it’s a huge rise in class for him but we trust Chris’s judgement, and we’ll go to the Epsom,” Allnutt said.

“He was really good when second two starts ago, he was a bit unlucky that day and then he was incredibly unlucky last start. He went to the line under a stranglehold, and he just didn’t get clear room at any stage of the straight. So, he could have been going into Saturday’s race with two wins if luck had been on his side.”

Lord Penman has drawn barrier 10 of 14 and he will be ridden by Zac Lloyd.

The Gr.1 TAB Epsom is Race 8, and it jumps at 7.10pm NZ time.

“It’s obviously an exciting day for us,” Allnutt said. “It’s hugely exciting to have three Group One runners on the one day at Randwick.

“You need everything going your way to win any race let alone a Group One in Australia but we’re there, we’ve got live chances.

“We’re really looking forward to the day. A good group of owners are going to be there, we’ll have numbers on course, and with a bit of luck, hopefully we can bring home a Group One.”

 Photo: Soul Of Spain winning the Gr.3 Newcastle Cup. Bradley Photography. 

New Zealand-based syndicators Go Racing are gearing up for another big weekend of late nights and early mornings as they tune in to watch four of their Joseph O’Brien-trained charges race in stakes company across the United Kingdom.

“It’s a really exciting weekend for us,” Go Racing’s General Manager Matt Allnutt said. “We have four runners up in the UK and they’re all in stakes races.”

In recent years Go Racing has launched a global model of purchasing breeze up horses, in partnership with Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock, to race with O’Brien in the United Kingdom. The aim is to target black type before transferring to the Australian stable of Champion trainer Chris Waller as older horses to target the lucrative prize money on offer there.

While the international racing may have them sleep deprived, Allnutt said it is proving fruitful.

“Buying horses up there and targeting black type before bringing them down to Australia is a massive part of our business now and we’re really getting some good traction with it now.

“A lot of credit must go to Stuart Boman from Blandford Bloodstock who does a lot of work for us, together we’ve developed a good formula for success and the horses we’ve bought up there are running well.

“We saw results of that last week with Etna Rosso third in the Gr.3 Kingston Town at Randwick and Soul of Spain winning the Gr.3 Newcastle Cup. They’re both products of this system and they’re going to the Gr.1 Metropolitan next weekend.

“We’re really pleased with the way our formula is working, it’s certainly having a lot of success and long may it continue.”

The first of this weekend’s stakes runners is Mojave River who takes her place in the £55,000 Listed Boyle Sports British EBF Rosemary Stakes (1609m) for fillies and mares at Newmarket in England at 12.15am NZ time, with Sean Levey onboard.

A winner two starts ago, Mojave River, who hasn’t raced since August 13, has a chance to add some valuable black type to her pedigree.

“She’s going well Joseph is more than happy with her,” Allnutt said. “She has drawn barrier 10 of 14 so she will need a bit of luck over the mile but she’s going well.

Meanwhile at Dundalk in Ireland, Omni Man contests the €45,000 Listed Bar One Racing Best Odds Guaranteed Diamond Stakes (2148m) at 6.15am NZ time with Dylan Browne McMonagle in the saddle.

“He really showed a devastating turn of foot when winning at Goodwood two starts ago, he’s trained on really well and it does look to be a nice race for him, he’s well in the market,” Allnutt said.

“He was scratched from racing at Leopardstown earlier this month due to track conditions and this race is on the Polytrack. How he handles that will go a long way to determining his chances, but he does like firm footing so we are optimistic that he will get away with it.

“He has drawn the outside barrier in the 14-horse field, and he will more than likely go back from there.”

At 1:37am on Monday morning NZ time Go Racing will be represented by Alibah and Zous and Me in the €60,000 Gr.3 Weld Park Stakes (1408m) at The Curragh in Ireland.

“Alibah has had two starts, she won on debut really impressively then finished third in the Listed Blenheim Stakes last start,” Allnutt said.

“She’s a really promising filly going well. She was unlucky last start, she settled a long way back but made up really good ground in the straight and was really powering to the line, another 30 of 40 yards and she would have won the race.

“Zous and Me has had one start for one win at Galway. She’s a promising daughter of Zoustar but obviously this is a big step up for her at just her second start, but she was pretty impressive at Galway she looks to be a really nice filly in the making.”

Meanwhile in Australia on Saturday, Go Racing will also be represented by another product of their dual hemisphere system, Tajanis in the A$251,000 Gr.3 Colin Stephen Handicap (2400m) and New Zealand-bred Maison Louis in the A$302,000 Gr.2 Shannon Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill.