Churchill’s Imperialist rules
Coolmore shuttler Churchill (Galileo) brought up his fourth Australian stakes winner – and his fourth this season – when smart two-year-old Imperialist took out Saturday’s The Phoenix (Listed, 1500m) at Eagle Farm.
And the Chris Waller-trained colt shortened markedly in the betting to provide his sire with a second Australian elite-level winner in next Saturday’s JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m) at the same track.
After scoring at his third start, following a debut eighth at Canterbury on May 1 and a fourth at Kensington, Imperialist was wound in to $15 for the $1 million Atkins.
He’s still well adrift of the raging odds-on favourite Broadsiding (Too Darn Hot), the son of an even more powerfully surging shuttler, but by the strength of his victory on Saturday, Imperialist looks set for a bright future for Waller and his team of owners headed by Noel Greenhalgh.
Firming slightly late to start $5.50, Imperialist settled near the rear for James McDonald from the widest gate of 14, but weaved up through the field to be fifth on the turn.
Once clear at the 250 metres, he still had three lengths to make up on leader and $2.25 favourite Aemelius (Hellbent) – a last-start Randwick victor and half-sister to triple stakes-winning sprinter Brave Mead (Brave Smash) – but driven out by McDonald, the colt knuckled down to beat the filly by 0.5 lengths. Miss Trustful (Dubious) gave her Kitchwin Hills sire his first dash of black type in taking third.
Churchill, who’ll stand his seventh Australian season for $19,800, down from $22,000, is en route to completing his finest southern season. In this his third term with runners here the ten-year-old has 39 winners from 93 runners, capped by Toorak Handicap (Gr 1, 1600m) hero Attrition, his third top-tier victor worldwide.
Though by a Hunter Valley shuttler and out of an Australian mare who again pushed her father’s bulging broodmare sire barrow in Dancing Hare (Fastnet Rock), Imperialist is a New Zealand-bred, put together by Kiwi interests in Arkle Bloodstock and Curraghmore Stud’s Gordon Cunningham.
He was bought by the Waller-Mulcaster team at Karaka for $170,000 but, as might be suggested by his late-finishing 1500-metre win on Saturday, was relatively slow to come to hand.
His first two barrier trials in December were followed by a lengthy spell before his current campaign, but the patience appears to be paying off, which Waller said was noticeable by the colt’s cool demeanour in the pre-race parade.
“It was good to see, and that’s part of the reason why we bring them up here to Queensland at this time of the year, to see how they cope with the trip away and whether or not they can perform under pressure,” Waller said.
“It’s like taking them on a school trip, it definitely helps to mature them. He’s got a bright future, and he’ll definitely be winning another race.
“James did a great job to weave a passage through the field after getting him to settle in the first half of the race. The horse did the rest in the second half, so it was a great team effort.”
Waller indicated Imperialist would likely head to the Atkins.
“It wasn’t the primary goal with him, but on the strength of that win today and depending on how the race rates and what good form guides … make of it, we would have to consider it,” he said.
McDonald said Imperialist was still learning his craft.
“He’s a nice progressive horse and he did a good job out there today,” he said.
“He was very relaxed in the ring but he sprang into life when we got behind the stalls. He’s still new and he did a few things wrong, but he’ll learn soon enough.”
Imperialist (2 c Churchill – Dancing Hare by Fastnet Rock) is the second foal and sole runner out of Dancing Hare, a $400,000 yearling buy for Lee Freedman at the Gold Coast in 2015 who won three times in provincial and country Victoria from 1400 metres to 1600 metres.
After missing to Ocean Park (Thorn Park) in 2022, Dancing Hare now has a weanling filly by Satono Aladdin (Deep Impact), and was covered by Ocean Park again last spring.
Fastnet Rock (Danehill) has a lock on his first Australian broodmare sires’ title. With his star grandchild in that category being Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) winner Lady Of Camelot (Written Tycoon), Fastnet Rock is some $6 million clear of second-ranked Encosta De Lago (Fairy King).
Imperialist became Fastnet Rock’s 19th stakes winner of the season as a broodmare sire – four more than second-best, which is again Encosta De Lago – and now has 32 stakes wins.