Saturday Shorts - Wil's Orr, Rivellino's Millennium, Palm Angel and Field Of Play's Blue Diamond plays and a Shocking G1 double

Saturday's racing wrap takes in the Group 1 action from Caulfield at Te Rapa, and a Millennium to remember at Randwick.

Help from above with Another Wil’s Orr breakthrough

Another Wil has rewarded trainer Ciaron Maher’s patience with an emotional breakthrough Group 1 win first-up in the CF Orr Stakes at Caulfield.

Tested twice at Group 1 level during the spring, finishing second to Kimochi in the Sir Rupert Clarke in November at his most recent start, homebred Street Boss gelding Another Wil got the better of eight-time Group 1 winner Mr Brightside.

Jockey Jamie Melham and Maher were both emotional following the CF Orr given their close association with Another Wil’s late owner and breeder, Warrnambool’s Colin McKenna who died last October.

McKenna’s family, including wife Janice, were on course at Caulfield.

“I think he’s the first one that Colin and Janice have bred to win a Group 1. That's very, very special,” Maher said.

“Colin always loved this horse, in particular. I was just saying, I've resisted the temptation to sort of take him to that top level because he's needed time to mature and he's always very patient. 

“He just would have been so thrilled, but I'm pretty proud and he's such a great mentor and friend and supporter.”

Melham didn’t think Another Wil would be able to pick up Mr Brightside, who had shot clear after going forward early having been trapped wide.

“I thought at the 200 that he’s going to run another terrific second in the Group 1. But as soon as I switched the whip, it's just like he just picked up,” Melham said.

Maher indicated that Another Wil was likely to stick to the weight-for-age races for now, with the Futurity a probable target in a fortnight.

The All-Star Mile at Flemington and the Doncaster Mile, a handicap Group 1 race, in Sydney are also options later in the autumn.

Hot start for Rivellino as colt takes out Inglis Millennium

Rivellino continued his upward spiral with a powerful Inglis Millennium victory, a win that has his understated trainer Kris Lees considering a tilt at the Golden Slipper after landing the lion’s share of the $2 million on offer.

A winner on debut at Randwick in early January, Saturday’s effort at start two was a timely one for auction house Inglis, which opens its season on Sunday with the Classic Yearling Sale in Sydney.

The first four horses across the line - Rivellino, Within The Law, Artistic Venture and Grafterburners - were all graduates of last year’s Inglis Classic sale.

The winner, by Darley’s super sire Too Darn Hot, was a $180,000 purchase by Lees and agent Justin Bahen from the draft of Lime Country Thoroughbreds and raced by a syndicate that includes Edward Throsby, Segenhoe Stud general manager Peter O’Brien and prolific owners and breeders Frank and Christine Cook.

“I trained the mother (Intrinsic), so that is often a bit of a start when you go to a sale,” Lees said. 

“He is a horse that has continued to improve while we’ve had him in work and from each trial to the races he has continued to go the right way.

“He’s a smart two-year-old and I’d say we’ll be pushing on to some degree. You could see him in the Slipper, for sure.”

Jockey James McDonald added: “He’s a ripper and fair play to Kris, he has always liked him. When he rang and said ‘you’ve got to ride this one, I reckon he’s pretty good’, it didn’t take much convincing.”

Rivellino’s sire Too Darn Hot did not shuttle to Australia last year, being rested by his owners Darley and Watership Down Stud, and a decision is yet to be made as to whether he will resume shuttling duties in 2025.

The other two-year-old race run on the Randwick card, the Listed Lonhro Plate, was won by Zousain filly Bellazaine, a $160,000 Classic purchase last year by her trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and Kestrel Thoroughbreds’ Bruce Slade. 

From Zousain’s second crop, and the third stakes winner for the Widden-based sire, connections will now raise their sights with the lightly raced Bellazaine by targeting the fillies’ Golden Slipper lead-up races.

“Things didn't necessarily go to plan for her in the Gimcrack, she was always sort of one of our leading fillies going into that race, and just the wide draw affected her on the day,” Bott said. 

“But (there were) no excuses today, she has come back as a stronger and more seasoned filly. She can certainly put her hand up.”

Widden Stud will offer Bellazaine’s Supido half-sister on day one of this year’s Inglis Classic, which starts at 10am on Sunday.

Palm Angel bursts back onto Diamond scene, late entry likely for Field Of Play

Palm Angel’s Blue Diamond campaign is back on track, putting her first-up defeat two weeks ago behind her, by upstaging the favourite in the fillies’ Blue Diamond Prelude.

The Merson Cooper winner last November, the Jason Warren-trained Palm Angel was beaten into fifth behind My Gladiola in the Preview but a positive ride from Ethan Brown and the rise to 1100m was the difference. 

Bred and raced by Rosemont Stud, Palm Angel, a daughter of Starspangledbanner, reeled in My Gladiola in the Prelude while the Ciaron Maher-trained Wiltshire Square was placed at stakes level for a third time in three starts.

Minutes after Palm Angel’s victory, Rosemont Stud’s stallion prospect Bosustow finished runner-up in the Group 1 BCD Group Sprint at Te Rapa.

Warren has his sights set on returning to Caulfield on February 22 with a filly he believes is yet to peak.

“We went into her first-up run in the Preview a little bit soft, we’d gone there with one jumpout under our belt with a view that our grand final was still six weeks away, so we used the run to bring her on,” Warren said. 

“The barrier draw last start forced the issue, so we didn’t knock her around and felt that we came here much improved and I think we can tighten up a little bit further into the grand final in two weeks.”

Runner-up My Gladiola, the impressive Preview winner on debut, jumped brilliantly from barrier 10, which saw her jockey Jamie Mott abandon plans to ride her quietly from the wide draw and instead take up the lead.

Following her defeat, she drifted from $3.50 favourite out to $8 for the Blue Diamond. Palm Angel is $6.

Meanwhile, connections of the colts and geldings version of the Blue Diamond Prelude winner Field Of Play will almost certainly pay the $55,000 late entry fee for the Group 1 grand final on Saturday week.

Field Of Play, a Deep Field gelding, made it two wins from as many starts with his victory at Caulfield and, as a result, he firmed into $5 favourite for the Blue Diamond in a fortnight despite not being nominated for the race.

Co-trainer Natalie Young confirmed that the owners would take their chance in the Blue Diamond after the impressive manner of FIeld Of Play’s win

“I just thought, once he balanced up and got on the right leg, I knew he’d find another gear and he did today,” Young said.

“It’s great to see, it’s fantastic for (owner) Mr Cheng and Mike Kneebone, who was a big part of us getting this horse and having him, so it’s fantastic to know that we’re going to be back here in two weeks chasing a Blue Diamond.”

Field Of Play was bought by Hong Kong trainer Jamie Richards and agent Andrew Williams for $500,000 at last year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka Yearling Sale.

The bloodstock interests of Field Of Play’s Hong Kong owners are being managed by Patella Bloodstock’s Mike Kneebone, NZB’s business development manager and auctioneer.

Field Of Play’s half-sister by Stay Inside was bought by trainer Grahame Begg and Rohan Hughes for $300,000 at the Magic Millions this year.

You better believe it - a Shocking Group 1 double

Rich Hill Stud stallion Shocking, arguably the forgotten sire on the New Zealand farm’s high-profile stallion roster, celebrated a stunning Group 1 double at Te Rapa.

El Vencedor started the red-letter day for Melbourne Cup winner Shocking by winning his second Group 1 with a sterling performance in the Herbie Dyke Stakes (2000m) before Lindsay Park’s in-form seven-year-old produced a similar on-pace performance to win the BCD Group Sprint (1400m).

Here To Shock, who has won four of his past five starts in Victoria, New South Wales and now New Zealand, is Shocking’s fifth Group 1 winner, all conceived at low service fees.

Comeback jockey Nash Rawiller was delighted his trip across the Tasman paid off.

“I’m a bit blown away by him,” Rawiller said. “He’s shown that he can do that. He’s just racing with so much confidence now and has won some very good races in this preparation.

“You sense he could go back to Australia and be very competitive in a Group 1 while he’s fit and confident and others might still be on their way up.” 

Fellow Australian horse, the Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald-trained Bosustow, finished second in the BCD Group Sprint while fellow stallion prospect Savaglee was third.

Earlier, last year’s upset Bonecrusher Stakes winner at Group 1 level, the consistent Stephen Marsh-trained six-year-old El Vencedor justified his clear favouritism in the Herbie Dyke.

Ridden by Rory Hutchings, El Vencedor kicked clear at the top of the Te Rapa straight to score by three lengths over La Crique and Whangaehu.

Australian raider Numerian enjoyed a good run one out and one back but weakened to finish sixth.

On the quick back-up, having won at Listed level at Ellerslie last Saturday, the Mark Freeman and David Price bred-and-owned El Vencedor finally proved his middle-distance credentials.

“This gives me a lot of satisfaction and I’m very proud of the horse,” Marsh said. “We had a plan to run him last Saturday and have him hard fit and ready to go today.

“This takes him well over $1 million now and he’s just gone to another level. He seems to have finally matured.”

John Thompson’s Rich Hill Stud also stands champion sire Proisir, Satono Aladdin and Ace High.