Coolmore awaiting a spring Storm in comeback Kensington trial
Fellow three-year-old Switzerland to have his first new season hit-out at Rosehill
The first tentative steps in Coolmore’s hopes of having an Australian-bred Group 1-winning colt in its possession for the fourth time in five years will be taken at Sydney barrier trials this week.
Three-time stakes winner and Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) placed colt Storm Boy (Justify) – the hulking colt purchased by Coolmore after his Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) dominance in January – will step out in an 850-metre heat on the Kensington track at Randwick on Monday.
Coolmore’s Switzerland (Snitzel), another just turned three-year-old colt to sport the synonymous navy blue colours, won his first three starts last season, the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) being the most important win for his stallion CV.
But his Group 1 Slipper claims, discovered post-race, were severely hampered by a bone chip in a knee believed to have occurred during the running of the prestigious two-year-old race. Chris Waller immediately spelled Switzerland, who missed the ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m), and he has since undergone surgery to have the bone fragment removed.
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Storm Boy, meanwhile, ran fourth in the Sires, a race won by talented filly Manaal (Tassort).
In 2021, the Sires’ and Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner King’s Legacy (Redoute’s Choice) was retired to Coolmore, with his first crop two-year-olds to grace the racecourse this season, while two-time Group 1-winning three-year-old sprinter Home Affairs (I Am Invincible) joined the stud’s Hunter Valley roster 12 months later.
Last year’s Golden Slipper winner Shinzo (Snitzel) was retired earlier this year and he will be one of the most sought after first season sires this season at a fee of $55,000 (inc GST).
Storm Boy and Switzerland could join him as rostermates next year, particularly if one or either can win a Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) or Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) this spring.
Storm Boy will run in a trial for Group horses on Monday at the delayed session, which was postponed from last Friday due to the wet weather, while Switzerland is expected to have his first public hit-out of his campaign at Rosehill on Tuesday.
Premier Sydney-based jockey James McDonald is booked to ride both Storm Boy and Switzerland in their respective trials as the colts make their early bids for Group 1 glory.
Coolmore Australia’s racing and bloodstock manager John Kennedy recently inspected Storm Boy at Waterhouse and Bott’s Tulloch Lodge stables and the powerful colt still cuts an impressive figure.
“He looked like he dominated his period as a two-year-old [because of his physicality] and while he hasn’t grown again, he’s certainly filled into his frame,” Kennedy said.
“He’s just a very, very impressive horse. He’s got it all. He’s light on his feet, he’s athletic, but he’s got this raw strength about him as well.
“He is very intimidating when you’re standing in front of him. He’s fascinating, really. He’s the perfect mix of [dam sire] Fastnet Rock and Justify.”
The San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) at Rosehill on August 31 could be Storm Boy’s first-up run in a campaign most likely aimed at the Golden Rose on September 28, while Switzerland could use the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m) a fortnight before the three-year-old Group 1 feature as his spring starting point.
Switzerland spelled at Coolmore’s Mount White farm, the New South Wales Central Coast-based property previously owned by John Singleton, and he has been back at Waller’s Rosehill stables for about four weeks.
“[The injury] was very, very minimal, but it was just irritating him a bit, so on veterinary advice, we got it removed,” Kennedy said of Switzerland’s minor surgery.
“He’s perfectly sound and we’re looking forward to seeing him on Tuesday. He’s come in stronger than his last prep and he’ll follow a Golden Rose campaign for the time being. He’ll have a couple of trials leading into the Run To The Rose in September and then hopefully target the Golden Rose after that.
“That’s the immediate plan, but we’ll obviously see what happens on Tuesday and build him from there.”
Kennedy believes Switzerland’s pedigree and conformation – he is a $1.5 million Inglis Easter sale graduate who is out Ms Bad Behavior (Blame), a Grade 3 winner who won up to a mile – suggests he will be better at three.
“He is a horse that was unbeaten heading into the Slipper and we really did feel what he was doing at that stage of his career was going to be a bonus,” the Coolmore racing manager said.
“He is a horse that had the scope to improve as a three-year-old and he certainly looks like he’s come back that way. We’re very excited about him.”
In other Coolmore syndicate news, lightly raced three-year-old colts Public Attention (Written Tycoon) and Dawn Service (Justify), a son of top-class sprinter Sunlight (Zoustar), will also be out to increase their value with stakes wins during the spring.
The Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr-trained Public Attention, a grandson of the late Sir Patrick Hogan’s champion New Zealand filly Katie Lee (Pins), made the perfect start to his racing career by scoring at Caulfield on July 27.
And it is a return to Caulfield in October for a tilt at the Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) that is on the table for Public Attention, a NZ$160,000 purchase by Coolmore’s Tom Magnier at the 2023 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale.
“There was a great association and friendship between the Magnier family and Sir Patrick going back to when the history books were written,” Kennedy said.
“It was just great that we had the opportunity to buy this horse at Karaka and he’s had a good rap on him since he went into the stable with Mick and they did a great job. He is a horse that has tremendous improvement in him. He’s possibly going to target a Caulfield Guineas campaign.”
As for the Waterhouse and Bott-trained Dawn Service, who bolted in by four lengths in a Hawkesbury maiden on Thursday in Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock silks at just his second start, Kennedy said: “We were probably a little bit unlucky that we didn’t get him out [to the races] a little bit sooner as a two-year-old, but the tracks got quite heavy.
“We know from previous experience that these Justifys like faster ground and we were delighted to get a good track. I imagine he’ll be a horse that you’ll be hearing plenty of down the line.
“Gai and Adrian are happy with how he pulled up out of his run and he’ll be a horse that I’d say you’ll be seeing in some of the main [three-year-old] races in the spring in Sydney.”