Rich Enuff lands first stakes winner
Woodside Park Stud’s first season sire Rich Enuff (Written Tycoon) joined a select group by producing a stakes winner from his first crop when Plutocrat took out the Tattersall’s Club Stakes (Listed, 1400m) at Eagle Farm yesterday.
Rich Enuff joined Night Of Thunder (Dubawi), Pride Of Dubai (Street Cry), Headwater (Exceed And Excel), I’m All The Talk (Stratum) and Exosphere (Lonhro) as a first season sire to produce a stakes winner this season after the narrow victory of the Chris Anderson-trained Plutocrat, who was also Rich Enuff’s first individual winner in February.
Ridden by Michael Cahill, the Glenlogan Park-owned filly raced just off the speed near the inside. Held together inside the 250 metres, she sprinted well when let go by Cahill, racing through one off the fence, while Sydney visitor Zero To Hundred (So You Think) rallied on the rail and Tumbler Ridge (Spill The Beans) came with a withering burst down the centre of the track.
Over the final 50 metres, it was a head-to-head tussle between Plutocrat and Zero To Hundred, with a bob of the head separating the pair at the wire. The photo–finish favoured Plutocrat on the outside, a short half head ahead of the Gerald Ryan-trained Zero To Hundred, with Tumbler Ridge a further half-length away in third.
Plutocrat had drawn gates nine, nine, 11 and 12 at her first four starts, requiring her either to lead – as she did when winning a maiden in February – or being dragged back to the rear, as she had done in three runs since. Yesterday, she drew gate one, allowing Cahill to ride her positively but with cover.
“It was a testament that she had won a race and was beaten a nose in a stakes race because we had to ride her upside down back in the field,” Anderson said. “When she drew barrier one she was set to get the run of the race and show what she can do.
“She is raced by Glenlogan Park Stud and with a stakes win now will be even more valuable at stud, but first I am really looking forward to her as a three–year–old where she will get out to 1600 metres.”
Anderson said Plutocrat would spell ahead of either a spring campaign, targeting the Thousand Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m), or a summer campaign, with the Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (RL, 1400m) as an aim.
Offered by Glenlogan Park at last year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast March Yearling Sale, Plutocrat (2 f Rich Enuff – Personal Guarantee by Danzero) was purchased by Chris Anderson in partnership with Robert Heathcote for $110,000, with Glenlogan Park ending up back in the filly.
Her dam, Personal Guarantee (Danzero), was a two-time winner and she has produced two foals to race: Sure Deal (Real Saga), a three-time scorer in Queensland, and Full Of Promises (Real Saga), who has placed twice in Tasmania.
Plutocrat’s second dam Chalet Girl (Imposing) is a half-sister to late sires Danewin (Danehill) and Commands (Danehill), meaning the filly’s fourth dam is the great Eight Carat (Pieces Of Eight).
This is also the family of three-time Group 1 winner Verry Elleegant (Zed), 2014 Caulfield Guineas (Gr 1, 1600m) victor Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) and Newgate Farm’s leading second season sire by winners Deep Field (Northern Meteor).
Personal Guarantee has a yearling colt by the late Real Saga (Tale Of The Cat) who sold at this year’s Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale for $10,000, while she is currently in foal to Star Witness (Starcraft).
Cherry Tortoni a potential Derby aspirant
Rich Enuff was not the only first season sire to record a new stakes winner yesterday, with Night Of Thunder adding a third Australian stakes victor when Cherry Tortoni took out the Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m) at Flemington.
On the back of Darley’s midweek announcement that Night Of Thunder would serve mares to southern hemisphere time, the 2000 Guineas (Gr 1, 1m) winner provided a timely reminder of his prowess when Cherry Tortoni made it three from three to cap off his juvenile campaign.
Eased from a middle gate by Billy Egan, Cherry Tortoni settled beyond midfield down near the rail as the regally-bred Narvaez (Vancouver) carved out a stop-start tempo in front. Under his 61 kilograms, he found himself in an awkward position swinging for home, with plenty of horseflesh in front of him and horses tracking up solidly to his outside.
Second–favourite Alcyone (Teofilo) raced right past Cherry Tortoni on the circle with a four and a half kilogram swing in the weights, but Egan was still sitting pretty on the favourite passing the 400 metres.
Shaken up, the big-striding chestnut really had to knuckle down as it became a fierce battle to the line, but showing a tremendous will to win under the big weight, he pulled out enough to defeat Alcyone by a head.
Third, a further length and three-quarters away, went to longshot Johnny Get Angry (Tavistock), the first runner in the name of his new trainer, AFL legend Dennis Pagan.
The Patrick Payne-trained Cherry Tortoni, named ANZ Bloodstock News Maiden of the Week after his win at his first start at Sale, races in the Tait colours which were most prominently carried by the great Tie The Knot (Nassipour) in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Cherry Tortoni’s dam Tortoni (Strategic) is a half-sister to Tie The Knot.
It is likely that Cherry Tortoni will be given the opportunity to try and add the Victoria Derby (Gr 1, 2500m) to his record, a race in which Tie The Knot finished second in 1997.
“He could be a Derby horse but I’ll be guided by him,” Payne told Racing.com. “I’m not sure how good he’d be against the smarter three-year-olds over 1200 or 1400 metres so I’ll give him a short break and look to an early spring mile race.
“He gave weight to the second horse so I think that might’ve been a difference towards the line but he went really well. He’s a big horse so I can’t go too easy with him, so he’ll just have a short break.
“I am extremely pleased with the horse. He’s a lovely horse to deal with. So are the owners, the Taits. When Sandy Tait sent him to me he said this is one of the nicest horses I’ve sent down.”
Egan was also taken by the way in which Cherry Tortoni found the line.
“It was an impressive win today,’’ he said. “I thought it was an even race and everything got their chance. I noticed that when I went for him that I really had to stick into him today to get past them.
“The other day there were a couple that were unlucky so we didn’t know what they really had under the hood. Today they tested him but it was good to see him put them away still.
“I was happy to wait as long as I could on him, get him to the outside and have the last crack on them. It was an evenly run race and every horse got their opportunity. They really put their foot down and it was good that he knuckled down and got on top of them.”
Cherry Tortoni (2 g Night Of Thunder – Tortoni by Strategic), a homebred for Sandy Tait, is the third foal to race out of Tortoni, who herself was the final foal of blue hen Whisked (Whiskey Road). Tortoni has a Churchill (Galileo) weanling, while she is currently in foal to Mendelssohn (Scat Daddy).
Sircconi dominant in Winter Championship Final
The win of the day yesterday was arguably produced by the enigmatic Sircconi (Nicconi), who could not have been any more impressive in taking the Winter Championship Final (Listed, 1600m) by four lengths.
Sircconi, who was a Group 2 winner at Flemington when taking the VRC Sires’ Produce Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) as a two-year-old in 2017, added a third stakes win yesterday with an imperious win in the Winter Championship Final.
Racing near the speed, he was allowed to stride up to the lead early in the straight by rider Daniel Stackhouse. Not showing any sign of stopping, he quickly put up a margin on his rivals that only grew the further inroads they made into the stretch.
At the line, he was four lengths clear of former New Zealand mare Polly Grey (Azamour) with a long head back to Victoria Star (Tavistock) in third.
Stackhouse’s ride was reminiscent of the ride on longshot Zazzman (Distinctly North) in the 2004 Melbourne Cup (Gr 1, 3200m), when he raced clear at the top of the straight; it took world class stayers Makybe Diva (Desert King) and Vinnie Roe (Definite Article) to run him down.
The jockey aboard Zazzman that day was 18-year-old apprentice Nick Ryan, who yesterday achieved his first stakes success as a trainer with Sircconi. It took a masterful training performance, dropping the five-year-old back from 2000 metres to a mile off a seven-day back-up, to score.
“We’ve been dying to back this horse and things haven’t gone right here and there but we got him here in terrific order and I’d just like to thank my staff who have done a terrific job, Daniel Stackhouse a terrific ride,” Ryan told Racing.com.
“The back-up worked. A dominant win. It was a lovely ride. He handed up and had the run of the race just behind them. On the back up, hard fit, terrific effort.
“I thought he was a top three hope. I was very confident that I brought him here in really good order. For him to come out and do that it’s great to see. There’s some lovely owners in this horse. Peter Morgan sent him to me and I’m very thankful for that.”
Purchased for $80,000 from the 2016 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale by former trainer Peter Morgan, Sircconi (5 g Nicconi – On Credit by Viking Ruler) is the third foal to race out of On Credit (Viking Ruler).
However, she has only had one named foal since – two-year-old filly Demise (Domesday). On Credit has a yearling filly and a weanling filly, both by Capitalist (Written Tycoon), while she is back in foal to Nicconi (Bianconi).