| Militarize emerged as one of the country’s hottest young stallion prospects when he romped to victory in today’s Group One ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) at Randwick. |
| Relishing the heavy conditions and the step to 1400 metres, Militarize romped home under Joao Moreira to beat fellow Magic Millions graduate Don Corleone by over three and a half lengths. Waller said connections went into the race with a deal of confidence on his first two runs before last start being affected by bad interference in the Golden Slipper. “He was lucky to stay on his feet,” Waller said of the Slipper run. “Thankfully all the horses came home safely, that’s how we saw the race.” “I wouldn’t say we were confident (today), but we knew we had a lovely horse. He’s done a great job and it’s an absolute honour.” Today’s win from Militarize added another feature juvenile to the stable following homebred Shinzo winning the Golden Slipper. “We’ve been going OK without them,” Waller said of the two-year-old Group Ones. “But it’s always a talking point for people and actually it probably makes us a little more accessible to the really fast two-year-olds because often owners would buy a portfolio of horses and they’ll say, ‘we’ll give Chris the ones that need a bit of time’. So it puts us on the back foot to start with, so maybe they’ll give us the fast ones now as well. “ “The weather has thrown a few question marks over some horses but you’ve seen others excel so we’ve got a very nice colt here and he’s done a great job to win here today.” “He was a horse we considered just needed a little bit of time and we haven’t put him under too much pressure to get anywhere. “His early races have all been very encouraging, even when he got beaten here in the small field, I loved the way, the last 100m. He still got through the line and to me, showed that this was a nice race for him. The Golden Slipper was a step on that path.” Waller said he would talk to connections of Militarize before deciding whether they head to the Group One Champagne Stakes (1600m). The win was the second feature on the day for champion Brazilian jockey Joao Moreira and he was beaming after the Sires’ win. “His last run (in the Golden Slipper), you could forget about that run because he got involved in an incident throughout the race. Now today he showed his quality. Early in the day I mentioned that some horses were going to struggle in the surface, but he just floated on top of it.” “Another Group One win in Australia is so special and once again I wouldn’t have done it without the support of all connections.” “This is the kind of thing that makes us (have) no regret coming over here. It’s quite far away from home but when you get on top of a nice horse like this one, I just couldn’t be any happier.” “He’s such a nice horse. He kind of floated on the surface which not many horses would be able to considering the track is quite heavy today. Getting a good gate, putting himself in the right spot, he was the winner a long way from home.” A son of Arrowfield Stud leading sire Dundeel, Militarize was a $550,000 purchase for connections headed up China Horse Club, Newgate Bloodstock and Trilogy Racing from the draft of Bhima Thoroughbreds. The team at Bhima presented him at the auction on behalf of breeders GSA Bloodstock. He’s the first winner to date, from two to race, for the lightly raced and Saint-Cloud placed Dubawi mare Amerindia. A daughter of the Longchamp Group One winning Muhtathir mare Satwa Queen, Amerindia is a half sister to German stakes winner Important Time – who in turn is the dam of Group One Saratoga Derby winner Nations Pride. Amerindia is also a half sister to the unraced mare Queen of Carthage – she is best known as the dam of Yulong’s Group One winning sire Lucky Vega. Winner: Militarize Breeding: Dundeel-Amerindia (Dubawi) Breeder: GSA Bloodstock Pty Ltd Race: ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes G1 (1400m) Sold for: $550,000 Sale: 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale Vendor: Bhima Thoroughbreds (As Agent) Buyer: China Horse Club/Newgate B’stock/Trilogy Racing Earnings: $758,400 Owners: Newgate Bloodstock, China Horse Club Racing Pty Ltd, Trilogy, Newgate S F, Horse Ventures, Go Bloodstock Australia, Starlight Racing, Grant Bloodstock Pty Ltd, Carpe Diem, Aston Bloodstock, Nick Vass Bloodstock, G1G Colts & Breeding Pty Ltd & Aristia Park Bloodstock Pty Ltd Trainer: Chris Waller (Rosehill) |
