Rookie trainer steals the show at Randwick with dream horse
“But we also have options in terms of how comfortable he is with pushing it further. He was in good shape then and he kept that turn of pace as he progressed through his career, but if he can get to 1800, 2000, that’s another set of gates.”
Sandpaper is hard to break hard work
Bjorn Baker’s stable will be looking for another target for Sandpaper after the six-year-old struggled to hold off stablemate Thunderlips in the listed Carrington Stakes (1400m) and hand Nash Rawiller a treble at Randwick on Saturday.
Sandpaper ($2.70 favorite) led the $200,000 prize and was strong enough to beat Thunderlips by a long margin. It was the former Godolphin galloper’s first win in nine months and came after his sixth final start in the Buffering at Eagle Farm.
Sandpaper, a $130,000 acquisition from Godolphin for Darby Racing, won four times at stake, including the $250,000 Newcastle Stakes.
“He was amazing,” Baker’s assistant coach Luke Hilton said.
“He was really strong in Brisbane, he never got any peace and they were attacking him three-way the whole way and I thought he held his own and boxed really well.
“When Bjorn came back it gave him some extra time between runs and he looked great on the field and his work during the week was superb.
“Nash gets along very well with him and finds a lot when he needs it.”
Rawiller had previously won with Promitto and Kingdom Undersiege.
Freedman’s young summer hopes
Michael Freedman was keeping his options open with Satin Summer after the latter became a back-to-back Golden Slipper contender with victory on his Randwick debut.
The Written Tycoon-Satin Shoes mare, a $6 chance trained and owned by Belinda Bateman, led off the lead from Tommy Berry and held off late for a one-and-a-half length victory over favorite Zambales in the 1000m 2YO handicap.
Freedman, who won the Slipper with Marhoona last year, said Satin Summer’s run to the races was delayed by the heat in preparation and he felt he would recover after the run. There was a gain on Slipper in March from $101 to $26.
“There might be a few options,” Freedman said of his next run.
“I’ll be back here for the Pierro Plate, or just keep him working for one of the cubs’ lead races… or even head to Melbourne in two weeks for the cubs’ Blue Diamond Prelude.
“Obviously we’d be willing to find something black type for him somewhere.”
Freedman already has Breeders Plate winner Incognito ($8) and Godolphin’s Outspan ($34), who won at Rosehill last week, in Slipper contention.
He said Incognito would return to the Canonbury Stakes at Rosehill next week, while Outspan would likely return to the Pierro Plate at Randwick on February 14.
Berry and Freedman doubled in the fourth round with the Godolphin mare Cinsault ($2.60 favorite) taking an easy win. Berry was later sidelined for the remainder of the card due to illness.
Nash backs Dunn challenger
Kingdom Undersiege stamped his credentials as a Country Championship contender with victory in his first Highway Handicap at Randwick on Saturday, earning an early double for jockey Nash Rawiller.
The ex-Peter Snowden-trained I Am Invincible four-year-old ($4.20) won by a neck in the 1200-metre class 3 Speedway race behind favorite and leader Satin Stiletto, with Rawiller overtaking him by a late lead. It was the fourth win in five starts since Kingdom Undersiege arrived at Dunn’s Murwillumbah stable. It was an $800,000 yearly purchase purchased online in September 2024 for $75,000.
Rawiller said Kingdom Undersiege would “definitely gain 1400 meters” from Saturday’s performance and would include him in the Country Championship series.
The effort gave Dunn a double race-to-race victory following last week’s remarkable success at Rosehill and Rawiller. He rode the David Atkins-trained Promitto ($8) to victory in the Midway Handicap, breaking a 17-month drought for the former two-year-old group 2 winner.
New chapter for Gatsby’s
Trainer Joe Pride was optimistic Gatsby would win again after the much-maligned four-year-old made his stable’s second entry, ending a run of exits since Rosebud, who was listed in August 2024.
The former Chris Waller-trained galloper finished seventh in the Pride three weeks ago and improved at Randwick on Saturday to win by a clear over Bundeena to place 78th over 1200m in colts and geldings.
Pride believed there was “a fair amount of recovery” left at Gatsby’s, and Gatsby’s earned back about half the money his new contacts paid him on Saturday.
“There’s a carnival coming up here so it’s going to be a bit tough for him, but I think he’s a horse that hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet so I’m hoping we can get a few more,” Pride said.
“He was bought to potentially race up north, but they said they would trial him in Sydney first.
“You think you can win again with this, but it was the right race.”
