G1 Australasian Oaks paints a good picture for Concello
Like most who buy at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Denise Martin might have dreamt of rich Group 1 sprint races when she bought Concello at the 2022 offering.
The Star Thoroughbreds boss went to $210,000 for the filly who is a first-crop member of Widden stallion Trapeze Artist.
A son of Snitzel, Trapeze Artist was a star three-year-old, winning the Golden Rose (1400m), T J Smith Stakes (1200m) and All Aged Stakes (1400m), and raced on at four to win the Group 1 Canterbury Stakes (1300m) in track record time.
But Concello demonstrated early on that her chance of making it at the highest level was going to come in races longer than those events and she will on Saturday start one of the leading fancies in the Group 1 Australasian Oaks (2000m) at Morphettville.
She showed a liking for the trip with a third placing in the Group 3 Adrian Knox Stakes (2000m) and Waller considers her the ideal horse for the Australasian Oaks, a race he has won with Egg Tart and Toffee Tongue.
“She was good in the Adian Knox, she’s ready for 2000 metres and it’s that type of race; you take a second-tier horse on the way up and have a bit of fun,” Waller said.
Trapeze Artist is yet to have a winner from limited starters beyond 1600m, but celebrated his maiden Group 1 success at that trip last spring when Griff won the Caulfield Guineas.
Concello is out of the Encosta De Lago mare Senta Helga, whose only two wins came at 2000m and is a sister to Group 1 Champions & Chater Cup (2000m) winner Liberator and the dam of Group 2 The Roses (2000m) winner Etana.
Concello broke her maiden over 1600m at her second start, on December 10, with her other win coming in a 1500m benchmark 64 at Hawkesbury two starts ago.
She has the services of champion jockey James McDonald in the Oaks and will jump from barrier five if third emergency Shut That Door does not gain a start.
More Racing News
Dan Morton keeps faith with 2024 Railway Stakes mare
Trainer Dan Morton has shrugged aside Super Smink’s horror barrier draw and still thinks she can win the Group 1 Swan Draught-Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot on Saturday. A layer of complexity was added to Super Smink’s Railway Stakes bid after she was handed barrier 18, but Dan Morton is keeping the...
Timing right for Port Lockroy in G1 Railway Stakes bid
He’s one of five interstate raiders and the outsider of the quintet, but co-trainer, Rob Archibald believes there is a sense of timing about Port Lockroy in Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes (1600m) at Ascot. Rob Archibald, who shares training duties with Annabel Neasham, says Port Lockroy put himself into Railway Stakes...
Royal task for Gilded Water at local debut
A benchmark race on The Gong undercard will add some Royal flavour to the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting when a horse owned by His Majesty King Charles III makes his local debut. Four-year-old Gilded Water has been sent to Australia to continue his racing career, having started just four times in the...
Improving trio to fly flag for Godolphin at Kembla Grange
Godolphin doesn’t have a representative in The Gong, but James Cummings is content to rely on a trio of up-and-coming sprinters to carry the stable’s hopes at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting. Fleetwood will headline the leading yard’s squad when he resumes in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m), while Pisanello and Restonica contest benchmark...
Jason Collett hoping to find Express lane in The Gong
Jason Collett is resigned to the fact that he will be more reliant on luck than good management as he tries to coax another win out of Territory Express in the $1 million The Gong at Kembla Grange. The Provincial-Midway Championships Final victor in the autumn, Territory Express has a get-back racing pattern...
Mark Walker aims for ‘new’ hometown Cranbourne Cup
Trainer Mark Walker has a good record when in form New Zealand gallopers land in Australia. Walker’s latest ‘import’ is It’s A Wild Night who will have his first Australian outing in the Listed Cranbourne Cup (1600m) on Saturday. It’s A Wild Night arrived at Walker’s Cranbourne base just over a week ago...
Trainer Gavin Bedggood chasing Fortune in The Meteorite
Gavin Bedggood hopes the decision to take Oscar’s Fortune to Cranbourne for a midweek gallop will pay off handsomely on Saturday. Oscar’s Fortune runs in the $1 million The Meteorite (1200m), a new ‘slot race’ that Southside Racing, a merged entity of the Cranbourne and Pakenham Clubs, runs for the first time. The former...
Railway Stakes 2024 timing perfect for Baker’s Bel
In-form mare Belclare will need to overcome a wide alley to land her first Australian Group One win in the Railway Stakes at Ascot, and connections believe Nash Rawiller is the perfect man for the job. A two-time victor at the highest level in New Zealand, Belclare joined the Sydney stable of Bjorn...
John Stewart eyes Melbourne with 2024 Japan Cup fancy
Goliath faces one of the toughest tasks in racing this weekend, beating the Japanese at home in their biggest race, but John Stewart is already planning his next moves with his star recruit and Australia is on the itinerary. The ambitious American has quickly become a powerful investor in Australian racing and...
Hedged poised to give The Warra rivals a trim-up
The Magic Millions carnival is the campaign focal point for promising sprinter Hedged, but trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr are hoping he can knock off a feature race along the way. The gelding will resume in the Group 3 The Warra (1000m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday, his first start...
