It’s that time of the year when WA thoroughbred enthusiasts start having serious conversations about the serious horseflesh that will be on display at Ascot throughout the TABtouch Pinnacles.
Quite simply, if you’re not taking the month-long extravaganza seriously, then you need to have a seriously good look at yourself in a room full of mirrors.
This is serious business.
And that is not a biased view. The late entries for the Group 1 features next month and into December – the Swan Draught Railway Stakes (1600m), MC Equine Surfaces Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) and TABtouch Northerly Stakes (1800m) – only underlines the prestige in which the Pinnacles are held.
News this week that Group 1 star Buckaroo, fresh off a runner-up placing in the Group 2 Crystal Mile at Flemington behind Surfin’ Bird, would bypass the Melbourne Cup carnival and be aimed at the Railway and Northerly was a massive coup for WA racing.
A winner of the Group 1 Underwood Stakes (1800m) in 2024 and runner-up to the mighty mare Via Sistina in last year’s Cox Plate (2040m), eight-year-old Buckaroo is exhibit A for the age-old saying “like a fine wine”.
He has matched motors with the best and brings elite-level form to Ascot. Ditto Tom Kitten, a three-time victor at Group 1 level and Another Wil, who claimed the Group 1 CF Orr Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield last year and earlier in the spring ran third behind boom four-year-olds Sheza Alibi and Autumn Boy. That pair are set to lock horns in the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Buckaroo was an original entry in the famous Ascot mile and Northerly, but the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained Tom Kitten and Ciaron Maher’s Another Wil have since been added to the mix, providing potential star power to races which generate enormous interest both here and east of the Nullarbor.
And if we are talking star power, very few come with the same level of swagger as Pride Of Jenni, the nine-year-old mare with more than $12 million in prizemoney courtesy of her attention-grabbing, bold frontrunning style that tests the resolve of her opposition yet thrills racegoers and punters alike.
A wonderful fresh winner of the Group 2 Feehan Stakes (1600m) at Caulfield last month, Pride Of Jenni has endured a couple of little setbacks since, but owner Tony Ottobre this week confirmed that a trip west was still “absolutely on the agenda”.
With that in mind, hands up if you’re salivating at the prospect of a Northerly Stakes field containing the likes of Pride Of Jenni, Buckaroo, Tom Kitten, Another Wil, Surfin’ Bird, Pericles and the best WA has to offer in the lightly-raced four and three-year-olds respectively King Of Light and Beatty?
Oh, and we shouldn’t forget a pretty handy gelding by the name of Cosmic Crusader, last year’s Northerly champion who has gone to another level and then some in a spring campaign that is a throwback to yesteryear.
The stirring performance by Cosmic Crusader to claim last weekend’s Cox Plate at start No.7 this time in could quite easily have been the cherry on top for owner-breeder Bob Peters and wife Sandra. Instead, we are likely to see the six-year-old in the Group 1 Champions Stakes (2000m) at Flemington on Saturday week, with a return home to defend his Northerly crown not being ruled out.
Whilst Cosmic Crusader will be watching on this weekend, Surfin’ Bird will be in action at Flemington, backing up in the Group 1 Empire Rose Stakes (1600m) for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
She, like Tom Kitten and Another Wil, was a late addition to the entries for the Railway and Northerly and with her on-speed pattern and Tulloch Lodge “bone and muscle” approach, would appear suited at Ascot.
The Freedmans are also strongly considering whether the Winterbottom would align with the undeniably talented mare Point Barrow, who has won successive Group 3 events, the How Now Stakes (1200m) and Northwood Plume Stakes (1200m).
Added to the initial list of Winterbottom entries, Point Barrow had a tick-over trial at Mornington on Monday in preparation for a likely Group 1 assault in the Champions Sprint (1200m) on November 7.
A bold performance there could convince the father-and-son combination to head west, mindful that a Group 1 victory for the daughter of Blue Point would add enormous residual value.
The same applies to young trainer Trent Edmonds, who continues to do a splendid job with Deep Field mare Extragalactic, already a two-time Group 1 runner-up this year. Her three runs this campaign have yielded a fourth (Group 1 Moir Stakes), second (Group 1 Manikato Stakes) and third (Group 2 McEwen Stakes behind Smooth Chino).
