Group 1 knockout for Newgate as In The Congo wins Golden Rose
Two Group 1-winning stallion prospects created in the space of 24 hours, and it might not even be the best weekend Newgate Farm have experienced over the last 12 months.
That’s how well the Henry Field-run stud is faring at the moment, as the Hunter Valley operation touched gold once more in ending the weekend in possession of two of the most coveted stallion prospects by champion sire Snitzel (Redoute’s Choice).
Adding to Wild Ruler’s sensational victory in the Moir Stakes (Gr 1, 1000m) on Friday night, three-year-old colt In The Congo (3 c Snitzel – Via Africa by Var) led from start to finish to claim the first stallion-making classic generation contest of the season, posting the fastest time of any previous running of the Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) at Rosehill.
“It’s not bad when you’re getting Group 1 winners by the champion stallion,” said Newgate managing director Field to ANZ Bloodstock News yesterday.
“It’s been a special 24 hours. Wild Ruler has been a horse that Peter and Paul Snowden have always believed was a heavyweight sprinter, and to see him prove himself last night in the Moir was just sensational.
“In The Congo, he’s an incredible horse. A really good one.”
Pressing forward from barrier six to take the lead ahead of Remarque (Snitzel), In The Congro set ferocious sectionals under Tim Clark and, after beating off that rival who relented to finish second last, the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) winner repelled the closing Anamoe (Street Boss) to reverse the placings of the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m), posting a time of 1.21.46secs to beat the previous record set by Exosphere (Lonhro) in 2016 by 0.37secs.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott, who was celebrating his 12th Group 1 win in partnership with Gai Waterhouse, declared it a plan well executed.
“Every start he’s surprised me and continued to improve. We just kept raising the bar from when he stepped out in the off season in the winter and through the early stages of the spring here. He just kept delivering,” he said.
“We weren’t concerned by the 1400 metres, he’s got that high cruising speed and has the ability to sustain that. And that’s what we wanted to do today. Make it a real test for some of those and take away some of their brilliance and bring in some of his assets; that high cruising speed and toughness that he’s got.
“He has a fantastic pedigree behind him and he’s a fantastic type himself. He’s always had that raw natural speed and we’re in a fortunate position to be able to get the opportunity from Newgate Farm and Henry Field and connections to make these stallion prospects and he’s well and truly stamped that today.”
Perhaps a measure of the success Field and partners have had in recent times is the fact they lined up four contenders for the Group 1 feature, after targeting four juveniles at the Golden Slipper (Gr 1, 1200m) last season, which was won by their Stay Inside (Extreme Choice).
“He broke their hearts. He was fast early, fast in the middle and fast late,” Field said.
“The confidence that was coming out of the Waterhouse-Bott camp in the last few days, you could feel it bubbling.
“They couldn’t see him getting beaten today, and they weren’t wrong. He just crushed a very good field of colts.
“He’s broken the race record in his first preparation. He’s just a very, very fast horse. He’s out of a champion sprinter, he’s by a champion stallion and he’s on his way to being one of the best colts in the land.”
In The Congo takes his record to three wins from six starts since his $350,000 purchase from the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale last year from the Newhaven Park draft.
Following his debut success on the Kensington track as a late season two-year-old in May, the horse returned a bob-of-the-head second in his next appearance before continuing through his preparation as a three-year-old. He finished second in the Rosebud (Listed, 1100m) to Paulele (Dawn Approach) before reversing that form in the San Domenico, running a track-record time of 1.05.69secs for the 1100 metres at Kembla Grange.
The Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) now beckons for the three-year-old on October 30, for which he is a $7 chance behind Anamoe, who continues as the $4.60 market leader.
“We thought this was a good form race going down to the Coolmore and it would be a good lead up for that. We are mindful that he has been up for a while and he’s kicked a big goal now,” Bott added.
“We’ll see how he comes through that now. It’s a tough race today and expect him to bounce out well as he’s that type of horse. We want to do the right thing by him.”
The Chris Waller-trained Coastwatch (Fastnet Rock) finished third, one and a half lengths from the winner, but the story could have resulted much better still for Field and Newgate, with Artorius (Flying Artie) running an unlucky fourth having been taken wide in the straight by Moridan (Maurice).
“Artorius’s run was phenomenal,” Field said. “He was the run of the race outside of the winner. It’s been a great day.”
The Waterhouse and Bott-trained In The Congo is, like Wild Ruler, a yearling purchase for the Newgate Farm and China Horse Club colts syndicate, with the former a $350,000 buy and the latter a $525,000 purchase from the Kia Ora Stud draft at the 2019 Inglis Easter sale.
The pair add to Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Captivant (Capitalist) and Group 2 winner Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice), who finished fifth and seventh in yesterday’s contest, as stallion prospects for Newgate purchased as yearlings, with the pair bought for $255,000 and $550,000 respectively, while they are joined by current rostered stallions Russian Revolution (Snitzel) and Cosmic Force (Deep Field) as yearling purchases-turned-stallions, with connections parting with $320,000 and $180,000 to secure that duo.
Newgate has never gone to seven-figures in securing a yearling colt.
“We’re lucky to have a terrific budget to work on, but we feel that we’d rather try and find horses that we think we can buy at some value,” Field said.
“Maybe you’ve got to crystal ball them a little bit more and see what they’re going to be like in six month’s time.
“The million plus dollar colts, they’re not for us, the downside on them is too great for us. We look to try and buy horses that we think can develop and go forward rather than the ones that are the obvious seven figure colts in the market. We’ve always done that. Sometimes you’ve got to forget about the fashion and buy what you like.”
In The Congo is the second foal out of South African champion mare Via Africa (Var), who was brought over to Australia by Nordic Racing and Breeding, the Australian arm of South Africans Markus and Ingrid Jooste.
Via Africa, a ten-time winner, including three times at Grade 1 level, is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Elusivenchantment (Elusive Fort).
“I actually looked right into her (Via Africa) form. She was the real thing. By Var, who is a proper stallion, and if you look at her form properly she was the best of the best over there. The fastest horse in the country,” Field said.
“In The Congo was a horse that literally walked four steps out of the box, and myself and Gavin Murphy and Steve O’Connor of Go Bloodstock, we drove to Boorowa, and he took four steps out of his stable and we said ‘we’re going to buy this colt’.
“He’s everything I look for in an animal. His proportions, his muscle definition. As a yearling, the athleticism he possessed was extraordinary.”
Field and Newgate launched the stud careers of Capitalist, Flying Artie and Extreme Choice all in the same season in 2017, while Snitzel pair Russian Revolution and Menari began their stud careers 12 months later.
The latter landed his first winner at Toowoomba yesterday, as Menari Magic won the Pat O’Shea Plate (1000m) for Paul Butterworth, and could now be set for the Magic Millions in January.
Menari, like Extreme Choice, has battled fertility issues, and produced just 19 live foals from his first crop.
“It’s a good problem to have, and Menari already had a winner today, which is great. Someone said to me ‘oh no, you’ve got another one (with fertility problems’,’ but I said ‘it’s better that way than him being no good!’.”
“The word on the Russians is pretty strong. Any time you have the opportunity to stand a son of an elite stallion, you’re already ahead,” Field said.
Meanwhile, Newgate and Yulong Investments tied up a deal for Wild Ruler to run in their $15 million The Everest (1200m) slot on October 16.
“Myself and my old mate Sam Fairgray, we hammered it out through the morning and between China Horse Club and Yulong and the whole team of partners, it’s going to be a great occasion,” Field said.
“It’s an important race. It’s probably the best sprint race on the planet and when the opportunity presented to run him we felt it was the right play.
“If it’s good ground in The Everest he’ll really run a blinder, mark my words.”
Zaaki cruises to Underwood success
They don’t give away Group 1s but yesterday’s Underwood Stakes (Gr 1, 1800m) at Sandown might have been as close as it comes to being that way.
The Annabel Neasham-trained Zaaki (7 g Leroidesanimaux – Kesara by Sadler’s Wells) made his Melbourne debut on the back of four consecutive wins in Australia and made light work of his four opponents, with jockey Craig Williams never getting into top gear on the Doomben Cup (Gr 1, 2000m) winner, who stepped up in trip and grade from a dominant win in the Tramway Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Randwick on September 4.
“I just love the preparation and the planning that Annabel has done for Zaaki,” Williams told Racing.com. “I would say after his gallop that Annabel has got him right where she wants him for his main target.”
That main target will be the Cox Plate (Gr 1, 2040m) at Moonee Valley on October 23, for which he remained the $2.50 favourite after this two-length defeat of three-time Group 1 winner Probabeel (Savabeel). Superstorm (Sebring) finished three and three-quarter lengths behind the winner in third.
“Obviously, he covers the ground that well – he’s that athletic – that you don’t actually realise what he’s doing to his opposition,” Williams said, who gained the ride from James McDonald with Sydney jockeys unable to travel to Melbourne.
“Probabeel, the four that lined up today, they’re all Group 1 winners.
“He’s really exciting and I’m grateful for the opportunity.”
Zaaki will bid to become the fourth horse to accomplish the Underwood Stakes – Cox Plate double in the same season, after Northerly (Serheed), Ocean Park (Thorn Park) and So You Think (High Chaparral).
“It was always going to be a concern, a bit of a tactical affair. There wasn’t a lot of speed in the race and it was interesting to see Fifty Stars take them up,” said Neasham’s stable representative Todd Pollard.
“We thought we might have to do all the leg work and have something come over the top of us late. He’s such a good horse, he just tries every time. He’s a marvel to have in the stable.”
“It’s onto the Caulfield Stakes then the Cox Plate, that’s the grand final. It’s pretty exciting, he’s two-from-two this prep. You talk about the Cox Plate being the grand final, but when he’s winning first-up over 1400 metres and doing it again second-up, we just want to see him keep the ball rolling.”
A 150,000gns buy for Stuart Boman of Blandford Bloodstock, Zaaki is one of three Group 1 winners for his sire Leroidesanimaux (Candy Stripes).