Wollombi repays new connections with Gai Waterhouse Classic victory
Wollombi (Extreme Choice) delivered her new owners an immediate return on their recent investment when she landed Saturday’s $160,000 Gai Waterhouse Classic (Listed, 1200m) at Ipswich.
The daughter of Extreme Choice (Not A Single Doubt) was bought from the Newgate Consignment by the Panthalassa Syndicate for $500,000 at last month’s Magic Millions Broodmare Sale and was transferred to Tony Gollan from Peter and Paul Snowden after the transaction.
Bred by Kingstar Farm, the four-year-old had four wins and six placings in 18 runs for Team Snowden, capped by her victory in Flemington’s The Vanity (Gr 3, 1400m) in February, 2023.
However, she had not been seen in competitive action since her sixth-placed finish in December’s Summoned Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) at Caulfield and warmed up for this weekend’s task with a fourth-placed finish in a 1050-metre barrier trial at Deagon.
Sporting the well-known green and white silks of Yulong on Saturday, Wollombi added a fifth win to her record when charging from the back under Vlad Duric to beat stablemate Bezique (Spirit Of Boom) by 0.5 lengths. Party For Two (Sidestep) came home a further length away in third.
“I thought she mapped really well today [Saturday]. She relished the pressure up front and gave a really good kick to get over the top of them. I’d like to thank Yulong for sending me the horse to train, they purchased her at the recent Magic Millions Broodmare Sale so I’m very fortunate that she made her way into our stable,” said Tony Gollan.
“I’d also like to thank Peter Snowden, who trained her before me, for the advice he gave me on her. We’ve only had her a few weeks so we’re still getting to know her, but I was confident she’d be strong late here. I’d watched a lot of her replays from down south, so I knew a race like this would really suit her.
“I wasn’t sure where I was at with her two weeks ago, because I thought she’d have to make up a bit of ground quickly to be competitive in this race. But the last ten days she had made it up nicely, so we came here confident and it was great to see her get the job done.”
Duric, who was completing a treble on the card onboard the mare, said a strong early tempo aided Wollombi, despite the mare getting further back than anticipated.
“They went very quick. I was a lot further back than Tony and I planned,” Duric said. “But once I got out, she just exploded for me. Very impressive win.”
Wollombi (4 m Extreme Choice – Hazlebrook by Hinchinbrook) was bought by her former trainers, Team Snowden, for $200,000 from the Kingstar Farm draft at the 2021 edition of the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
She is out of the winning Hinchinbrook (Fastnet Rock) mare Hazlebrook, who Kingstar Farm snapped up for $22,000 at the Inglis Australian Broodmare and Weanling Sale in 2018.
Hazlebrook, who is herself is a half-sister to Listed winner Everage (Zizou), produced a colt by Extreme Choice’s son and barnmate Tiger Of Malay and she is now back in foal to Extreme Choice.
Based at Newgate Farm, Extreme Choice will stand for a fee of $275,000 (inc GST), making him the third-equal most expensive sire in Australia, on par with Yarraman’s marquee stallion I Am Invincible (Invincible Spirit) and Zoustar (Northern Meteor), who headlines the roster at Widden Stud’s Hunter Valley base.
Taj Rossi next for impressive Sneaky Sunrise
Stakes races now look on the agenda for the Lindsay Park-trained Sneaky Sunrise (The Autumn Sun) after the two-year-old made it consecutive wins at Flemington when scoring in a 1420-metre event at the Melbourne track on Saturday.
Ben Hayes, who trains in partnership with his brothers JD and Will, always had a lofty opinion of the daughter of The Autumn Sun (Redoute’s Choice) and she justified that belief when overcoming a tough passage to beat Pisces (Frosted) by 0.4 lengths under Daniel Stackhouse. Henlein (Dundeel) came home a further 0.7 lengths away in third, while the winner’s stablemate Jenni’s Meadow (Brutal) finished another nose away in fourth.
Hayes was almost tempted to aim Sneaky Sunrise at last weekend’s JJ Atkins (Gr 1, 1600m) at Eagle Farm following her breakthrough victory over 1400 metres at HQ on May 18, but decided against the huge step up in class. The co-trainer revealed that they will now look towards the Taj Rossi Series Final (Listed, 1600m) back at Flemington on July 6.
“The plan was always to go a month between runs, hopefully win here and then run in the Taj Rossi Series Final and get some black type,” said Hayes.
“That would be the most likely plan, but obviously it depends on how she pulls up and how she’s going before we head in that direction.
“But we really like her. I think she’s got more to come and is only going to improve with age.
“It was really tough that she was able to sit three-wide, bring the horse that she narrowly beat [into the race] and hold it off and be strong through the line. It’s a good trait for a horse and very pleasing to see.”
Hayes gave Jenni’s Meadow’s performance ‘a pass’ mark and said they would now likely look for a 1600-metre race for the daughter of Brutal (O’Reilly).
“She’s got this habit under pressure of laying in and she did that in the straight there and she only narrowly missed third,” Hayes said.
“I thought she was a very strong through the line, [it was a] big pass mark and I wouldn’t hesitate to go to a mile with her.”
A $180,000 purchase for her trainers and co-owners MyRacehorse from the draft of her breeders Bowness Stud at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in 2023, Sneaky Sunrise is out of the winning So You Think (High Chaparral) mare Schifty Thinker, a $5,000 acquisition for Bowness at the Inglis Great Southern Weanling and Bloodstock Sale in 2018.
Last spring, Schifty Thinker produced a filly by Coolmore’s young stallion Acrobat (Fastnet Rock), while most recently she missed to Tiger Of Malay.