So You Think colt scores trial win at Randwick
A total of seven juvenile trials were conducted at Randwick on Friday, with plenty of exciting youngsters on show and the first trial of the morning went the way of the John O’Shea-trained Bartolf (So You Think).
The son of Coolmore’s So You Think (High Chaparral) finished second in his first trial over 742 metres and he clearly appreciated the step up to 1050 metres, finishing strongly to beat Scintilla (Hellbent) by 0.3 lengths. Comic Culture (Capitalist) finished a further 0.9 lengths.
Bred by Segenhoe Thoroughbreds, Bartolf is out of six-time winner Lesley’s Choice (Exceed And Excel), making him a half-brother to Group 3 scorer Jal Lei (Sebring) and she is herself a daughter of Group 3 winner Fumble (Snippets).
Heat four of the morning was landed by the Gai Waterhouse and Adrain Bott-trained Mayfair (Fastnet Rock), who was scoring his second trial win after winning his first on May 31, a victory that came when he caught the eye when finishing second on his first Hawkesbury trial in February.
Carrying the China Horse Club and Newgate colours, the son of the recently pensioned Coolmore Stud stallion Fastnet Rock (Danehill), the colt came home a length ahead of Metaphorically (Written Tycoon), while the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained California Waves (Too Darn Hot) finished a further 2.7 lengths away in third.
A $625,000 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale purchase in 2023 from the Newgate Farm draft for China Horse Club, Newgate, Go Bloodstock and Trilogy, Mayfair is out of the US Listed winner Cicatrix (Violence).
A few trials later, Mayfair’s stablemate Fortingall, an unraced colt by I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit), also landed his trial on Friday, coming home impressively to beat After March (Zoustar) by 0.6 lengths in the 740-metre heat, his second trial win. Perfect Justice (Justify) was another 3.3 lengths away in third.
Bred and raced by Belinda Bateman, Fortingall is the first foal out of the juvenile-winning Written Tycoon (Iglesia) mare Tilia Rose and hails from the same family as two-year-old stakes scorer Weatherly (Beneteau).
Tulloch Lodge sent out another trial winner in the next heat in the shape of the unraced Capitalist (Written Tycoon) colt Bullfighter, who is out of juvenile Restricted Listed winner Espaaniyah (I Am Invincible).
Last seen finishing second in a Hawkesbury trial on June 3, the colt cut a more experienced figure on Friday, pulling away to score a 1.9-length win over his $1.4 million stablemate Dawn Service (Justify) in the 740-metre event.
Originally purchased by Alice Berry from the draft of his breeders Emirates Park for $270,000 from the Magic Millions National Weanling Sale in 2022, the colt was then bought his trainers and Bruce Slade’s Kestrel Thoroughbreds from the Coolmore Stud draft for $420,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale the following year.
Waterhouse and Bott were also represented by juvenile filly Alinea (Written Tycoon), a two-start maiden who landed her 740-metre heat on Friday morning.
The Michael Freedman-trained Carnegie Hill (I Am Invincible) looks a bright prospect for the future and he improved from his third-placed trial debut, hitting the line impressively on Friday to beat Arriving Home (I Am Invincible) in their 1050-metre event.
The unraced colt was a $400,000 buy for Bill and James Mitchell of Mitchell Bloodstock from the Yarraman Park Stud draft at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale. He is out of the New Zealand Group 3-placed mare Aquamosa (Alamosa).
Another unraced two-year-old by Yarraman’s Park headline sire I Am Invincible recorded a trial win on Friday with the Peter and Paul Snowden-trained Twirling landing her 740-metre heat, beating the Tulloch Lodge trained Bellarata (Pierata) by 0.7. Friday’s trial win was Twirling’s second, having landed her first two outings ago at Warwick Farm on January 2.
Like Friday’s fellow trial winner Fortingall, Twirling was bred by Belinda Bateman and she hails from the same family as Han Xin (Sepoy), a Listed winner in Singapore, and Group 2 winner Lightsaber (Zoustar).