Empire’s growing reputation hits new heights with McNeil romp
On Friday, Ciaron Maher warned that the lightly raced Growing Empire (Zoustar) was shaping up as a special horse.
On Saturday, the Yulong-owned colt gave a near frightening display of just how special.
The winner of two of his first three starts and he resumed for his fourth in Caulfield’s McNeil Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), which may only be a Group 3 in August but has earned the reputation of the proverbial good horses’ race.
Several past winners have progressed to stellar springs – and major things beyond – including subsequent Group 1 winners turned sires Jacquinot (Rubick), Super Seth (Dundeel), Merchant Navy (Fastnet Rock) and Starspangledbanner (Choisir).
Merchant Navy, also trained by Maher, took out that year’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m), and after Saturday’s McNeil, bookmakers showed they thought Growing Empire was going the same way.
Amid a captivating afternoon when a rare batch of three-year-old talent flexed its muscles in Melbourne and Sydney, bookies slashed Growing Empire’s quote from $11 to $4.50 favouritism for the stallion-making Coolmore. Meanwhile Storm Boy (Justify), winner of the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m), was wound in from a similar quote to $6 second favouritism.
While Storm Boy looked imperious at Rosehill, 15 minutes later Caulfield was abuzz with talk of Growing Empire, after he shot Widden Stud’s Zoustar further ahead on the general sires’ table by bringing his fourth stakes-winner of the season – two more than his nearest rival.
With the blinkers he’d worn for his two wins removed, and jumping from the widest gate of eight for Mark Zahra, Growing Empire settled wide but with cover on the outside of the second trio in running.
After a solid pace was set up front, chiefly by second elect Stay Focused (Cosmic Force), Zahra eased Growing Empire into the clear around the turn, and within a handful of strides from the 300 metres the colt bounded into the lead and put the race to bed.
Eased down, he scored by 1.25 lengths from Jerome Hunter’s gallant Wonder Boy (Cosmic Force) – earning his second straight Group placing on his third start – with Bennett Racing’s Stay Focused hanging on for his second black-type placing in third.
“They don’t win much better than that,” an awestruck Zahra told racing.com – some statement considering his first spin on him was in his last-start all-the-way 4.5 length win in Morphettville’s Breeders Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) in April.
“I thought, with this prep, if he was going to get beaten, it’d be today. But at the 400, you didn’t have to worry about that.
“He gives you an unbelievable feeling. He feels like a very good horse.
“It was good to see him without the blinkers. We’d been trialling him in the blinkers, but I said to Ciaron he just wanted to be a bit too keen in them – let’s just see how we go first-up with the option of putting them on [later].
“The way he won I don’t think he needs them. He’s there for you, his turn of foot’s electric, he looks a pretty smart horse.”
Maher concurred, saying Growing Empire was “on the same path”, ambition-wise, as Merchant Navy in 2017.
“He’s a very exciting colt,” Maher said. “I didn’t really tie Mark down with too many instructions. If he pinged the lids we were going to go forward (but) he ended up with a beautiful run. He’s a very, very progressive colt.
“He’s always had that really good ability. He spelled well at Yulong, he’s come back in, the team have done a good job (but) you could still see late there’s still a lot more there.”
While Growing Empire is a far more developed racehorse than the colt who ran second on debut at Kensington and celebrated by crashing through the outside rail, Maher noted he still “sort of wobbles around”.
“That’s why we wanted to get him to the races now. He needs that bit of experience. We’ll get him to Flemington, he can have a couple of looks down the straight and then hopefully he’s right to go on Derby day.”
Maher said those two straight runs would be the Poseidon Stakes (Listed, 1100m) in two weeks, and the Danehill Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m) on October 5.
Bred by a trio including Black Caviar’s (Bel Esprit) part-owner Neil Werrett, Growing Empire was bought for $700,000 by Yulong at last year’s Inglis Easter sale, from Vinery Stud’s draft.
He’s the second foal of triple city-winning, Group 2-placed mare Miles Of Krishan (Snitzel). The first – the now five-year-old mare Dancing Alone (I Am Invincible) – fetched $1.4 million two Eastern sales earlier and has won six of ten for Bryce Hayes, with a Group 3 placing to her name.
Werrett and company now have a two-year-old filly by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) out of Miles Of Krishan, who also has a yearling sister to Growing Empire, and was covered again by I Am Invincible last spring.
Zoustar, fresh from matching I Am Invincible’s (Invincible Spirit) Australian record 208 winners in running second to him on last season’s general sires’ table, went into Saturday holding a lead of more than $500,000 on his great rival on this season’s standings.
While it’s early days, Widden will be delighted with the start to the new term from their 14-year-old, who’ll stand for an equal national high $275,000 (inc GST) this spring.