Stokes looks to more Sydney riches after $500k test run in Coast
Craig Kerry
Victorian trainer Phillip Stokes was eyeing the $2 million Five Diamonds at Rosehill in the spring with Athanatos after he cruised to victory in the $500,000 The Coast (1600m) test race at Gosford on Saturday.
Kerrin McEvoy rode Athanatos ($11) to victory in the three- and four-year-old race as part of a double feature on the independent program.
The four-year-old, who has appeared 14 times in 22 starts and won just three times, sat behind the leading pair before McEvoy brought him into the race on the turn. Favorite Sarrismo ($2.90) was ahead and moved into second, a length behind Athanatos.
Stokes praised McEvoy’s “beautiful drive” and said Coast was a test run for the next preparation targeting the Five Diamonds.
“I’m starting to get a bit of a handle on Sydney now and that’s something we want to explore more and have a bit more of a presence there, so it’s important we can identify the horses to send there,” said Stokes, who also won the Group 2 Cummings Stakes with Arran Bay at Morphettville on Saturday. “He might be a horse we should look at in Brisbane now.”
McEvoy said he was encouraged by Athanatos’ form, particularly as he missed a place on one of the rare occasions.
“When I got the booking and looked at their runs, I was pretty confident,” McEvoy said. “I rang Stokesy yesterday and he backed it up. He said he was in good form. I have confidence that the last time he did a mile was Toorak, we know he’s a handicap competitively, it’s group 1 and he’s unbeaten a lot [when fourth].”
McEvoy had previously won the Takeover Target Stakes in a thrilling finish on King Of Roseau. His four-year-old rode down the outside carrying a 60kg load and beat Harry’s Yacht by half a head.
Trainer Peter Snowden has favored Saturday’s listed 1200m race at the Gold Coast over another and the plan now is to target the 1300m Kingsford-Smith at Eagle Farm on May 30 and the potentially $3 million Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) a fortnight later.
McEvoy expected King Of Roseau to score a tough win.
“Looking at him, he’s going to improve,” McEvoy said.
“Like typical Pete, he didn’t blow it, so it’s a nice, gutsy win. It’s a tough win.”
King Of Roseau, who came second in the 1200 meters in the same program last year with 78 points, won $11 for Kingsford-Smith.
Waller eyeing Queensland targets
Premier trainer Chris Waller said Asterix was likely to head for two Eagle Farm events after the seven-year-old star carried 61kg to victory in the Gosford Gold Cup (2100m) on Saturday.
Recent JRA Plate starter winner Asterix sliced the field and sprinted well late under the big weight to take a one-length victory over Zaphod in the Big Dance heats.
Jockey Jason Collett was given a three-match suspension for carelessly riding Asterix, which caused him to slide within 100 meters of the Lees-trained You Wahng. He would be out of action from May 17 to 22.
Waller, who now has four Gosford Cups under his belt, said Asterix was likely to race in the group 3 Lord Mayors Cup (1800m) on May 30, followed by the group 2 Q22 (2200m) on June 13. Waller tripled the day after his win over Nobler and Monopolistic.
Plumber mare double delivers on Baker
Bjorn Baker will consider a Queensland stakes race for I Am Dirty after living up to expectations in horseman and jockey Rachel King’s double at Gosford on Saturday.
The $600,000 I Am Invincible filly, the $2.60 favorite in the 1200m 2YO handicap, raced off the lead before moving to the top of the straight and winning by two lengths from Playmaker. I Am Dirty finished sixth on his Randwick debut after an extensive run.
“I think he was a little bit fitter and better,” Baker said of Saturday’s win. “We could be looking at a big race in Queensland but we’ll see how we go.
“Maybe we’ll go one more time or we can knock him out. I’ve always had a really good opinion of him and it’s important to win these two-year races, especially the Saturday races. I think he’ll go on to better things, it’s just a matter of time.”
Baker’s wife, Andrea, is part owner of the mares and managing owner of Indemnity; King, who later claimed the $200,000 Guineas, took the lead as the $1.95 favorite, beating Stratafy by half a length. It was the third win in a row for Written Tycoon’s three-year-old gelding and Baker said he would now be pushing for a spell.
“This is actually her Mother’s Day gift because I don’t have anything else organized,” Baker joked.
Derby hopes to advance with stormy finish
The Chris Waller-trained Monopolistic burst into Queensland Derby contention with a flashy run through the field to win the 78 handicap over 2100 meters at Gosford on Saturday.
Andrew Adkins took the horse Savabeel in second last place and worked his way through the pack, leaving King Pedro and the Sea King behind.
Waller stable representative Zane Jones said Monopolistic would be ahead of Providence, another Newgate-China Horse Club galloper, to take first place in the Derby.
“He had a nice drop in rating today, came off some pretty hot racing during the carnival at Randwick and made the most of it,” Jones said. “It was a great ride Andy.”
Monopoly was $15 to $6 for the May 30 Derby group 1. Providence was picked second at $4.50.
Waller also achieved the treble with Nobler, Mr Miller and Cloisters in the 1600m 72 handicap race at Gosford.
The right price with Smashing Time
Kembla trainers Robert and Luke Price left with another Midway win at Gosford and a track record with Smashing Time leading all the way with the addition of winks.
Smashing Time, who was second in the first race at Kembla, went ahead under the leadership of Adam Hyeronimus and managed to beat the favorite Spice Baby by three quarters by running 1:08.8 in the 1200 meters. The Prices won the same race last year with Monte Kate.
This was four-year-old Smashing Time’s fourth win in 20 starts.
“He never targeted what his true potential was,” Robert said. “He’s the kind of horse where you’ll have two good runs in the preparation, so we’re keeping an eye on that these days. And he could probably win better races than he’s won, but it’s all geared up for today.”
Neil, trained by Matt Dunn, also ran the 1000m in 56.92 seconds and won the Class 3 Highway Handicap under Nash Rawiller.
