Scintillating Cylinder cements favouritism for Golden Rose
For the sixth time in the past nine years it was the famous royal blue silks of Godolphin who laid claim to the Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m), as Cylinder (Exceed And Excel) pounced late on to cement his place at the head of the market for the stallion-making Golden Rose Stakes (Gr 1, 1400m) in a fortnight.
Golden Slipper Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m) runner-up Cylinder, who held on to post a narrow victory in the Vain Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) on his return three weeks ago at Caulfield, was threaded through the field with precision by rider Nash Rawiller, deputising for the injured James McDonald, to nail the race leader Moravia (Snitzel) with timing equally as precise.
Cylinder, who as a juvenile won the key Slipper lead up races in the Silver Slipper (Gr 2, 1100m) and Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) before being denied by Shinzo (Snitzel) in the coveted Group 1, is the third consecutive winner of the Run to the Rose for Godolphin after In Secret (I Am Invincible) last year and Anamoe (Street Boss) in 2021.
However, trainer James Cummings, who was winning his fifth Run To The Rose, will hope for a change of fortune in the Golden Rose two weeks later, with both Anamoe and In Secret defeated into second by In The Congo (Snitzel) and Jacquinot (Rubick) respectively.
Godolphin’s Bivouac (Exceed And Excel), in 2019, is the last horse to land the double, following in the footsteps of fellow stallions in the royal blue Astern (Medaglia D’Oro) (2016) and Exosphere (Lonhro) (2015). The Cummings-trained Hallowed Crown (Street Sense), who won the Run to the Rose-Golden Rose double in the Gooree Stud silks in 2014, went on to stand on Darley’s roster before being relocated to Twin Hills Stud.
Cylinder was cut by bookmakers to $4.50 to win the Golden Rose, earning favouritism ahead of Shinzo, the Chris Waller-trained colt set to return first-up in the Group 1, while dual Group 1 winner Militarize (Dundeel), who flashed home to finish fifth in yesterday’s Run To The Rose, joins Shinzo as a $5 chance, and JJ Atkins Plate (Gr 1, 1600m) winner King Colorado (Kingman), who posted a barrier trial win at Randwick on Friday, is at $7.
“He’s up there, isn’t he? He’s a powerhouse of excitement,” Cummings said. “The horse arguably shouldn’t have won the race [from the position he was in], but he’s managed to find the narrowest of gaps, if you could even call it a gap, and he’s burst through and savaged the line.
“He’s a very good colt with a great record and our best two-year-old is now undefeated, two out of two this prep, and that’s very exciting for us going into the spring.
“Cylinder has had to learn a tiny bit more race craft today, too, with a few horses up ahead of him and forcing him to switch off over six furlongs, cluttered up between horses. That’s good for this young colt. He’s had plenty of experience and he should be a cherry-ripe fit horse in two weeks for the Golden Rose.”
A race that has thrown a spanner into the programming of spring three-year-olds is The Everest (1200m), with two of the six winners of the race emanating from that age group, including last year’s winner Giga Kick (Scissor Kick), and Cummings admitted to having an eye on the $20 million contest on October 14 with Cylinder, who, along with four-year-old filly In Secret, are contenders for Godolphin.
“I think that would make a lot of sense,” Cummings said. “We’ve got extra time between the Golden Rose and the Coolmore [Stud Stakes]. The Coolmore is a great race for the horse too, but The Everest is going to sit neatly from the Golden Rose this year, so it’s very achievable, but it’ll depend on what happens in two weeks; how the horse is and we’ve got plenty of time to decide that.”
Cylinder’s margin of victory was a just a short-neck over the Michael Freedman-trained Moravia, who from the outside barrier pushed forward to lead the field, in a performance filled with merit as the colt – part of the first-crop purchases by Freedmans’ Winkurra Colts syndicate – was only usurped in the final strides.
Tyler Schiller, who has ridden the $800,000 colt in each of his three races to date, believed that with a kinder barrier draw, Moravia could be right in the mix for the Golden Rose, for which he is a $17 chance.
“I think he put his hand up to say he’s a quality colt today,” Schiller said. “Fingers crossed for a draw in the big one.”
The Ciaron Maher and David Eustace-trained Nadal (Xtravagant), who blundered the start, forcing the horse to settle in the last pairing, ran on to finish third, a half-length from the winner.
Cylinder (3 c Exceed And Excel – Circular by Street Cry) is now the winner of four of his eight career starts and $1.475 million in prize-money.
The third foal out of Group 3 winner Circular, Cylinder is a half-brother to Group 3 scorer Parisal (Astern). His dam has a filly foal by Bivouac and has this spring foaled a colt by Brazen Beau (I Am Invincible).
Surprise package Encap delivers for Portelli
A running position closer to the speed allowed the Gary Portelli-trained Encap (Capitalist) to overturn his last-start defeat to Tom Kitten (Harry Angel) and land a dominant victory in yesterday’s Ming Dynasty Quality (Gr 3, 1400m) at Rosehill.
The three-year-old son of Capitalist (Written Tycoon) showed signs of greenness when running out of turf in his attempt to catch his Godolphin-owned rival in the Up And Coming Stakes (Gr 3, 1300m) at Rosehill a fortnight ago, finishing third, but in taking full advantage of the inside barrier, Encap and rider Brett Prebble travelled closer to the front runners in fourth on the rails, and pounced inside the final 200 metres to run away a convincing one-and-a-half-length winner of yesterday’s Group 3 contest.
Although winless heading into yesterday’s Rosehill assignment, Encap had shown an abundance of talent in four placed efforts, for the most part the victim of his get-back-and-run-on style which produced a pair of agonising defeats at his home track of Warwick Farm before his black type placing in the Up And Coming. But he was not for catching when stepped up to 1400 metres for the first time, skipping clear of the leaders before holding the running-on Ceolwulf (Tavistock) and Tom Kitten, whose challenge came too late in finishing second and third.
Tom Kitten took third on the line ahead of a flashing-late Cafe Millennium (Not A Single Doubt), with the pair relegating the winner’s stablemate Kintyre (Hallowed Crown) to fifth
Encap became the 15th individual stakes winner for his Newgate-based sire Capitalist, who added his name to the Golden Rose mix with his stunning victory, a prospect that has come to the surprise of Portelli when he first set sight on the gelding.
“It’s been frustrating. I thought we were going to have the same luck coming to the corner when he was held up for a couple strides,” Portelli said. “He’s only a small horse, around 15.2, but he had to push a big horse out the way. He’s got a big motor.
“What he did first up at Warwick Farm just surprised the hell out of me. From there, I thought I could have a really serious racehorse here. I thought he’d win his next start, but did the same thing, he got back too far and rattled home. He was unlucky last start again but today he drew the barrier. Such a big thing, and it was a great ride from Brett who got him in a great spot and he just had to make sure he got clear air, and he was strong through the line.
“The Golden Rose is in two weeks time. That might be a race we might aim at.”
Encap (3 g Capitalist – Enquare by Stratum), who was cut into a $13 chance for the Golden Rose, was a $200,000 buy for Portelli from the Newhaven Park Stud draft at last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
He is the third foal out of the Group 3-winning Stratum (Redoute’s Choice) mare Enquare, herself a daughter of dual Group 3 winner and Group 1 placegetter Skewiff (Mookta). While Portelli quipped that the horse’s cross of Golden Slipper-winning sires meant he himself would be a Slipper contender, the trainer was in no doubt that he had a horse possessing plenty of ability.
“For an Easter sale buy [he was quite cheap],” Portelli said. “He’s by a Golden Slipper winner in Capitalist and out of a mare by Stratum. With the double cross of Golden Slipper winners I thought ‘this is my next Golden Slipper winner’, but I was just 12 months too late.
“It just goes to show that good horses can come from anywhere. He wasn’t showing this sort of ability early on. I thought he might win a maiden or a Class 1 somewhere. But here he is, he’s a proper horse.”
Enquare, a 13-year-old mare who posted 12 career wins, was a $90,000 buy for Emmanuel Bloodstock at the 2020 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale. She has produced a two-year-old brother to Encap named Prime Broker, who was passed in at this year’s Easter sale and now races in the silks of Sutton Racing for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
She was not served in 2021, but was covered by Newhaven Park stallion Xtravagant (Pentire) last year.