The Playwright and Hi Barbie set for mouthwatering McLachlan clash

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Fillies bidding to advertise Magic Millions 2YO Classic credentials in Eagle Farm’s Group 3

Two budding star fillies from opposite ends of the buying spectrum will clash – and most likely lead the way – in Saturday’s key Magic Millions lead-up, the BJ McLachlan Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m) on a drying track at Eagle Farm.

The Playwright (Written By) was one of the last yearlings offered on the final day of January’s Gold Coast sale, selling among sparse crowds and half-empty tables out of Book 2 as Lot 1413, and picked up for just $60,000 by syndicator Tricolours Racing.

After a debut 0.19 length Saturday two-year-old handicap win over 1100 metres at Rosehill on November 30, she was on Friday a $4 chance for the McLachlan, and at $15 for the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic (RL, 1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 11.

In the style of her Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable, The Playwright will likely lead from gate eight for Regan Bayliss, as she did in her tenacious debut.

With her for company, from barrier ten for Angela Jones, is likely to be the local filly who’s written plenty of her own headlines already.

Hi Barbie (I Am Invincible) had plenty of sizzle as one of the star entries in the Gold Coast sale, making an early splash as Lot 16 and ending up the 15th most expensive seller.

At $1.2 million she’s the priciest horse Tony Gollan has been involved with at a sale. The champion Queensland trainer bought her in conjunction with her sole owner Jennifer Acton, widow of the filly’s breeder Alan Acton, the grazier who was killed in a helicopter crash mustering cattle last year.

Like The Playwright, Hi Barbie made a winning start to her career – though given her price–tag it sparked relief more than elation – when ploughing through a Heavy 10 to win Doomben’s Phelan Ready Stakes (Listed, 1110m), also on November 30.

The first foal of Gollan’s quadruple-Listed winner Outback Barbie (Spirit Of Boom), Hi Barbie is already an $8 second-favourite for the MM 2YO Classic. She may run favourite in the McLachlan as she attempts to defy the southerners raiding Eagle Farm for a hit out in the heat and humidity before the Gold Coast’s big day.

With Eagle Farm a Soft 7 on Friday, bookmakers had her at $3.10 for the Eagle Farm feature. She shared favouritism with Icarian Dream (Blue Point), the $300,000 Gold Coast purchase vying to become her Darley shuttle sire’s first Australian-bred stakes winner – remarkable given all his northern hemisphere success.

The Playwright led, defied a couple of challengers, then held the fast-finishing Icarian Dream into second place in that Rosehill debut win, when Ciaron Maher’s highly-rated filly was having her third start after a win on a Warwick Farm Wednesday then a fourth in the Golden Gift (1100m).

And co-trainer Adrian Bott feels confident The Playwright can go to another level when rising 100 metres against her pricier opponents in the McLachlan.

“We do want to give her the benefit of a 1200-metre run going into the Magic Millions race itself. That’s one of the main reasons she’s there,” Bott told ANZ Bloodstock News.

“And I don’t see the 1200 metres being too much of a concern for her. She was over 1100 first up, and she absorbed plenty of pressure there. She was there to be beaten on a number of occasions, but kept rallying and stuck on well.

“The fact she kept rallying and responding were encouraging signs, and I think she’ll improve off that and be better for the run.”

The Playwright, who was bred by Newhaven Park, arrived in Brisbane early this week to acclimatise, though the city’s big wet restricted her to a gallop on the dirt track on Tuesday.

Similarly, the Eagle Farm-trained Hi Barbie has been somewhat restricted, though, in a similar vein to The Playwright, Gollan said she had done enough work for the McLachlan, with a debut win behind her.

“I’ve been able to do what I’ve wanted to do with her, but the weather this week has been pretty challenging,” Gollan told ANZ. “Obviously, she’s quite fit with that run under her belt, which is a plus.

“This is a bigger field and a better race, and a stronger race for sure, but I’ve still got good confidence in her. She’s an above average filly, she’ll improve with that run under her belt, so I’m really pleased. My confidence levels are high that she can run well.”

Gollan conceded barrier ten was not ideal, but was heartened by the way Hi Barbie sat outside the leader before coming away for her 0.95–length success in the Phelan Ready.

“There looks to be good speed in the race. We’ll go forward, use a bit of intent early, try to negate our barrier and try to give ourselves the right run,” he said.

“The Waterhouse and Bott stable is pretty adamant with the way they ride their horses. But we sat outside the leader the other day and it was no problem.

If that’s the case again, well, it is what it is.

“We’re there to ride our own race. I’m not too worried about anyone else’s horses, we’ve just got to negate our own gate and ride our own race, and if our filly’s as good as we think she is, it should work out.”

As you’d expect for the price paid, Gollan was extremely impressed with the yearling Hi Barbie, especially having trained her dam Outback Barbie, the first-cropper who helped set Eureka Stud’s Spirit Of Boom (Sequalo) on his way as a stallion.

“As a yearling she was very much like her mother, and now she’s just bigger and stronger at the same age. She moves well, carries herself well. She’s put together well in all the right places,” Gollan said.

“I Am Invincible has put more strength into her and a bit more length as well. She’s a touch more scopey than her mum. Vinnie’s probably added a touch of quality as well. Being by him out of a nice family, that’s why you pay the big bucks.

“Luckily for us, she’s hit the ground running and she’s got good ability. She’s just got to keep training on and getting better, like most juveniles.”

Gollan was wary of making any major statements about Hi Barbie at this stage, such as comparing her to his 2023 Magic Millions 2YO Classic winner Skirt The Law (Better Than Ready).

“We’ll start comparing her to others when he we get more into the two-year-old season,” he said of Hi Barbie, whose brother is Lot 755 at next month’s Gold Coast sale, offered from the draft of I Am Invincible’s home, Yarraman Park.

“She’s a nice filly but she’s only had the one start, on a heavy 10. You could see she wasn’t comfortable a long way out. I just want to see marked improvement tomorrow [Saturday], and I think we will.”

The three main McLachlan chances are all-female owned, and thus set to compete for the Magic Millions women’s bonus in the 2YO Classic, with $500,000 to be split among the first four female owned horses home.

Bott conceded The Playwright would meet the Three Bridges Thoroughbreds-bred Icarian Dream on Saturday 3.5 kilograms worse off at the weights than in their Rosehill clash, but believes his filly should take more improvement from that run than Maher’s.

“We meet Icarian Dream a bit worse off at the weights, and that’s always a factor, but we met her on debut and I do think we’ve got some good upside in that regard,” he said of The Playwright, whose half-brother by Xtravagant will also go through Book 2 – as Lot 1397 – from Newhaven’s Gold Coast draft next month.

Tulloch Lodge will be hoping history repeats in the McLachlan, to a reasonable extent. Two years ago they took out the McLachlan with another Tricolours women’s syndicate owned horse by Written By (Written Tycoon) – The Novelist.

The gelding unfortunately came out of the race with an injury, not only putting him out of the Magic Millions 2YO Classic but all racing for 14 months. He’s at least since returned to win at Kembla Grange’s major Saturday meeting a month ago, and is headed back to Magic Millions Gold Coast raceday.

Bott heaped praise on Tricolours’ James Moss for selecting The Playwright as a yearling, and for recommending the purchase of The Novelist with the stable, for $110,000 at the Gold Coast in 2022. Incidentally, The Novelist is linked to another cheap and highly successful Tulloch Lodge runner, being a half-brother to Fully Lit (Hellbent), RedFox Racing’s $60,000 Inglis Classic buy who’s won the rich Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) and almost $1.4 million.

“I didn’t have anything to do with the purchase of The Playwright. It was all through James Moss and Tricolours, so he gets all the credit for that,” Bott said.

“She was certainly good value buying. James has a very good eye, particularly for buying these early running two-year-old types. We’ve had a bit of luck for James with those types, particularly with Written By, if you also consider The Novelist.”

Bott is also a fan of Written By, who’s just covered his sixth book at Widden Stud NSW for a slightly reduced $22,000 (inc GST). The nine-year-old Blue Diamond (Gr 1, 1200m) hero’s four career stakes winners from 113 runners are headed by Straight Charge, another from Tulloch Lodge’s phenomenal 2023-24 juvenile battalion, who won the ATC Silver Slipper Stakes (Gr 2, 1100m).

“Written By is a great stallion,” Bott said. “He has very uncomplicated stock, they get up and race early, and from what we’ve seen they train on. We’ve had nice exposure to the stallion for a number of seasons now, and we’ve had a couple of stakes performers by him nearly each season.”