Christmas comes early for Team Snowden as a pair of well-related juveniles break the ice
Peter and Paul Snowden unearthed two bright prospects at Randwick-Kensington on Wednesday in the shape of I Found You and Braveheart, two well-related 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduates by Yarraman Park Stud’s two-time champion stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit).
Ridden by James McDonald, I Found You kicked off the impressive double for the stable when she delivered on the promise she had shown at the trials, scoring at the first time of asking when beating three-year-old filly Fiorenza (Kingman) by 3.6 lengths in a 1150-metre maiden event. Bella Corazon (I Am Invincible) finished another 0.3 lengths away in third.
Peter Snowden admitted it had felt like a long wait to finally get her to the races, almost a month after her Randwick trial win where she gained the scalp of Godolphin’s ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Broadsiding (Too Darn Hot).
“She has been like a Christmas present under the tree, I’ve been waiting for three weeks to open her,” Snowden said.
“She has got talent and she’s from a great family. She is a half to Deep Field and Shooting To Win by I Am Invincible.
“She has always shown us a bit, she has been a bit small and light and she is just starting to furnish and get a bit of hindquarter and shoulder on her.”
I Found You was bought by owners China Horse Club for $1.3 million from the Cressfield draft at last year’s sale. She is out of the Listed scorer Listen Here (Elusive Quality), making her a half-sister to Group 1 winner Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor), Group 2 winner and successful stallion Deep Field (Northern Meteor), and Listed scorer Zaniah (Zoustar).
Snowden is unlikely to target the spring with I Found You, instead believing the filly will benefit from more racing now to lay some solid career foundations. Given she is only just beginning to mature, he expects her to take another 12 months to hit her straps.
“She is still a bit immature….and I’m sure the autumn is when you’ll see the best of her,” he said. “We will probably give her another run or two now and give her a good education and grounding.”
The Snowdens were back in the winners circle in the very next race on the Randwick-Kensington program when the equally well-bred and equally expensive purchase Braveheart made light work of his rivals to break his maiden at the second of asking in a 1150-metre maiden plate.
The colt finished sixth at Hawkesbury last month, but showed he had taken experience from that first outing to beat his more fancied stablemate Everybody Rise (Snitzel) by 0.9 lengths under Tommy Berry.
“We really liked him as a yearling, but he went through a spurt there where he lost it a little bit. He is on his way again now,” Snowden said. “I think he can go on with it.
“I’m sure he will be better on top of the ground, the family is much better on top of the ground, but it’s good to see him win like that. It’s a nice result.”
Braveheart was also purchased for $1.3 million by China Horse Club, Newgate, Go Bloodstock and Trilogy from the Yarraman Park Stud draft at last year’s Easter sale. He is out of Group 3 winner Octavia (Holy Roman Emperor), making him a brother to his stablemate King Of Sparta, whose four stakes wins are headed by his triumph in this season’s Expressway Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m).