Kingdom Undersiege leads home juvenile treble for Snowdens at Randwick trials
Magic Millions purchase makes it successive heat wins as he gears up for racetrack return
Peter and Paul Snowden had a pleasing day at Friday’s trial meeting, coming home with winners in three out of the seven heats, headed by $800,000 yearling buy Kingdom Undersiege (I Am Invincible).
The father-and-son training partnership, who announced on Thursday their intention for an amicable split at the end of the current racing season, enlisted Tommy Berry for the opening two of their winners.
Kingdom Undersiege, who has run eighth in the Lonhro Plate (Listed, 1000m) and seventh in a 1300-metre handicap in two starts on the track to date, made it two wins from as many trial outings this month in his 1050-metre heat.
Set down for an effort by Berry entering the final 200 metres having cruised through to that point, the colt gave willingly and eventually ran out an eased-down 2.1 lengths winner over the Ciaron Maher-trained Mougenot (I Am Invincible).
Purchased in partnership by China Horse Club, Newgate Farm, Go Racing, and Trilogy at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale, the son of I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) is out of the stakes-winning Choisir (Danehill Dancer) mare Rose Of Choice making him a brother to three winners.
Another offspring of I Am Invincible brought about the Snowdens second winner, with Twirling taking out her third trial from five attempts.
Yet to make the racetrack, the filly has been brought along steadily by her trainers and she led all the way in Friday’s 1050-metre heat under Berry, having enough in the tank under a tight rein to hold off the Justify (Scat Daddy) colt Dawn Service, who himself was a $1.4 million yearling purchase being out of champion filly Sunlight (Zoustar).
Twirling meanwhile, is a homebred for Belinda Bateman and is out of the Group 2-placed Lonhro (Octagonal) mare Twirl, who comes from the family of champion sire Fastnet Rock (Danehill).
The Snowdens rounded off their trial treble when Cash And Cards (Written Tycoon) proved too strong for his rivals in a 1050-metre heat under Chad Schofield.
Cash And Cards is the first foal out of the winning Foxwedge (Fastnet Rock) mare Zorro Rapido, herself out of the Group 3-winning mare Bardego (Barathea) making her a sister to Group 1 winner Volpe Veloce (Foxwedge) and stakes winner Raposa Rapida, and a half-sister to fellow stakes scorer Delago Bolt (Delago Brom).
Half-sisters to Classique Legend and Winx catch the eye
Scaling the heights of her Everest (1200m)-winning half-brother Classique Legend (Not A Single Doubt) may be a bit of an ask, but the John O’Shea-trained Candlewick (Pierro) showcased her abundant ability at Randwick on Friday when landing a 738-metre juvenile heat at the track.
On a morning that included a total of seven heats for two-year-olds, the daughter of Pierro (Lonhro) was definitely the most eye-catching runner on paper.
As well as being a half-sister to Classique Legend, who was also a dual Group 2 winner from his 15 starts for Randwick-based Les Bridge, Candlewick is a half-sister to fellow Group 2 scorer and 2019 Hong Kong Sprint (Gr 1, 1200m) placegetter Aethero (Sebring), so plenty could be expected on this trial debut.
Ridden by Tommy Berry in Friday’s heat, Candlewick came three-wide rounding the home bend and was allowed to cruise to the line to beat the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Bellarata (Pierata) by 0.7 lengths, with a further 0.2 lengths back to the Godolphin homebred Silmarillion (Too Darn Hot) in third.
Candlewick was not the only important family winner this week, with her half-sister I Am Famous (I Am Invincible), who was the most expensive yearling sold by her sire in 2022 when purchased for $2 million by The Yellow Brick Road Company and Mitchell Bloodstock, making it two wins from as many starts this preparation in a Class 1 (1300m) contest at Hawkesbury on Tuesday.
Retained to race by her breeder Tyreel Stud, Candlewick is the sixth foal out of winning Encosta De Lago (Fairy King) mare Pinocchio, who was sold to Bromfield Park and Group 1 Bloodstock for $1.15 million at last month’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale.
Pinocchio also has some famous siblings in her family, namely O’Shea’s five-time Group 1 winner Racing To Win, who is a full-sister, and Group 3 scorer Purrealist (Tale Of The Cat), who is a half-sister.
Another filly to have heads turning at Friday’s trial meeting was Michael Freedman-trained Wings Of Desire (Pride of Dubai), with the Winx (Street Cry) half-sister coming home a two and a half lengths second in her 738-metre heat behind the Ron Quinton-trained three-year-old Are Ee Que (Sidestep).
Making her second appearance at the trials, having run sixth in a 742-metre event at the same track back in February, Wings Of Desire showed evident inexperience down the home straight but, once shaken up slightly to move closer, came home well under a strong hold from Berry, no doubt entering plenty of notebooks in the process.
The daughter of Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry) is the final foal out of the late stakes-winning mare Vegas Showgirl (Al Akbar) who, along with the imperious Winx, has also foaled Group 3 winner El Divino (Snitzel) from a total of five foals to race to date, with all of those being winners.
Both Candlewick and Wings Of Desire hold no upcoming entries.
Tulloch Lodge get in on act with double as Pfieffer colt impresses
Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott rarely leave the Randwick trials empty handed and that proved so once again as the pair sent out a pair of juvenile heat winners.
Enter The Dragon (Capitalist), seemingly named after the famous Bruce Lee film of the same title, was a debut winner on the track over 1000 metres at Canberra in February before disappointing when only eighth on his follow-up start a fortnight later over the same course and distance.
However, given a spell in the paddock since that effort, the gelded son of Capitalist (Written Tycoon) produced some swift moves down the home straight on Friday as he came home a half-length winner over Johnny The Kid (Trapeze Artist) under minimal riding from Regan Bayliss.
The first foal and only winner so far to come out of the Sebring (More Than Ready) mare Princess Joy Joy, Enter The Dragon was originally purchased for $260,000 by Hong Kong-based Ricky Yiu at the 2023 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale before being resold to Darby Racing for $280,000 at the Inglis HTBA Yearling Sale the same year.
Waterhouse and Bott doubled their tally when Comme Ci Comme Ca, another gelding by Capitalist, made a winning trial debut when scoring over 738 metres.
Ridden by Winona Costin, the juvenile jumped from a wide barrier and, having been widest of all rounding the home bend, came home down the near-side rail for a length win over his stablemate Conchiero (Pierata).
He is the second foal out of the winning More Than Ready (Southern Halo) mare Chain Of Fools, herself a daughter of the Listed-winning and Group 1-placed mare Burgeis (Catbird).
Friday’s juvenile trials also saw the David Pfieffer-trained Call Me Mojo (Toronado) score in a 1050-metre heat, posting the largest winning margin of the juveniles as he defeated the Ciaron Maher-trained Piccaderro (Pierro) by 2.7 lengths.
Having run second in a 900-metre trial at Rosehill on June 11, the colt, a son of Swettenham Stud’s Toronado (High Chaparral), seemed to appreciate the slight step up in distance as he came home strongly under Jason Collett to record the victory.
Out of the winning mare Mojo Moon (Greenwood Lake), herself a half-sister to Group 3 scorer Testashadow (Testa Rossa), Call Me Mojo was purchased by Anton Koolman Bloodstock for $400,000 out of Collingrove Stud at last year’s Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.