Arrowfield’s Castelvecchio scores first stakes winner
A potential crack at both the Spring Champion Stakes (Gr 1, 2000m) and VRC Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) is now firmly on the agenda for exciting colt El Castello as he became the first stakes winner for his Arrowfield Stud-based sire Castelvecchio (Dundeel) when he took out Saturday’s Gloaming Stakes (Gr 3, 1800m) at Rosehill.
Trained by Anthony Cummings and ridden by Josh Parr, the colt went into the race off the back of pair of wins in handicap company and he had no issues with the rise in grade, beating Swiftfalcon (Exceedance) by 1.8 lengths with Firm Agreement (Yes Yes Yes) another 0.1 lengths away in third.
El Castello is now unbeaten in all three starts at three and Cummings believes, like his sire, he will only continue to improve at 2000 metres.
“Today [Saturday] is the first time he’s shown himself properly and professionally and I think her will be better at 2000 metres and better when we go to Melbourne,” said Anthony Cummings, who won the 2012 Victoria Derby with El Castello’s dam’s half-brother Fiveandahalfstar (Hotel Grand).
“I thought he was going well enough to win easier in each of those two races (before today), but it was him being himself, (and) that had him in front on the line but not really showing off, not really understanding what he’s here for.”
Should El Castello line up in the Spring Champion Stakes at Randwick in a fortnight’s time he will be aiming to go on better than his sire who finished in the Group 1 in 2019.
Following Saturday’s win, El Castello is at $4.50 across markets for the Spring Champion while Swiftfalcon maintains favouritism at $2.80.
Looking further forward, the colt is a $11 chance for the VRC Derby which takes place a week after the Randwick feature.
On Swiftfalcon, jockey Jay Ford said that barrier nine was of no assistance to the gelding.
“Obviously a victim of the gate today,” Parr said of the draw.
“The race got away on us a little bit. Nothing to take us into it, but he closed off really well.”
Purchased by his trainer for $220,000 from the draft of his breeders Cambridge Stud at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, El Castello (3 c Castelvecchio – Word Games by Fastnet Rock) is out of the winning mare Word Games (Fastnet Rock), who is a half-sister to the aforementioned dual Group 1 winner Fiveandahalfstar, while she counts Group 3-placed winner Wordplay among her full siblings.
Word Games produced a pair fillies by Cambridge Stud-based sire Almanzor (Wootton Bassett) in 2023 and this year, while she was most recently covered by the operation’s English 2,000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m)-winning shuttler Chaldean (Frankel).
Castelvecchio has sired eight winners from 36 starters in total and he stands alongside his father Dundeel (High Chaparral) at Arrowfield for a fee of $22,000 (inc GST).