Rivellino produces convincing debut win
Too Darn Hot (Dubawi) colt Rivellino made the perfect start to his racing career when he ran out a dominant 1.9-length winner of the opening contest at Randwick on Saturday, a 1000-metre maiden.
The Kris Lees-trained juvenile was ridden by Benjamin Osmond and, having previously shown promise when winning a trial over 900 metres at Rosehill last month, lengthened in impressive style to beat The Magic Man (Showtime) with a further 2.2 lengths back to Commanding Belle (Farnan) in third.
In winning Saturday’s contest, the colt put himself on a path toward next month’s $2 million Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m), for which he is eligible having been purchased by Lees and Bahen Bloodstock for $180,000 at the 2024 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
“He travelled really nicely in the race and let down really well,” stable representative Cameron Swan said.
“Kris [Lees] might be looking at a race like the Inglis Millennium in about five weeks. Going off that run, he’d be a chance in something like that.
“He’s a horse that just keeps getting better. He was very professional today and it was an easy watch. He was a bit out of his comfort zone in his first trial.
“It was a really quick trial and he didn’t know what he was doing. He came through that really well and improved into his next trial and he improved out of that into this.
“I don’t know where his ceiling is but he’s a really nice colt.”