Learning To Fly ‘Justifys’ The Hype

by TDNAus/NZ

The Annabel Neasham-trained Learning To Fly (Aus) (Justify) turned heads when she broke her maiden in the G3 Widden S. last month and she more than justified that hype when overcoming a wide barrier to win the Inglis Millennium (Listed Restricted) at Sydney's Randwick Race Course on Saturday.

After breaking cleanly from gate 15, the filly was settled on the outside by Chad Schofield, who was happy to sit on the wide outside. As the field rounded the turn, Learning To Fly showed she was aptly named, storming down the outside to swoop the A$2-million honours and come away with a 0.27l win over Blanc De Blanc (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}). Kundalini (Aus) (I Am Invincible {Aus}) ran another solid race to finish third (video).

Kia Ora paid A$900,000 for the filly at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale last year when she was offered by Coolmore, who retained a share in the youngster.

“To the staff's credit back at the farm, they earmarked this filly from day one as the best of all of them and from what we've seen so far, she looks extremely special and possibly the filly of her time,” Coolmore's Tom Magnier said.

“What Annabel has done with her is nothing short of extraordinary. She's weaved her magic and turned this filly into the star she is today. “She's in the [G1 Longines Golden] Slipper [A$4.92 million, Rosehill, Mar. 18] now, with some of this Inglis prize money counting toward qualification so we'll set out a path now toward there and hopefully become the first Millennium winner to win the Slipper.”

Kia Ora's Shane Wright said he always thought the filly had star quality.

“We knew she was an exceptional filly so while you never expect to see that, it's always a delight to sit back and watch a win like that with a very, very special filly,” Wright said. “When we drew barrier 19 I think everybody was a bit flat, but once we looked at things and decided to run, we knew we'd need a great ride by Chad [Schofield] and while he was obviously wide, he always had cover and just let the filly come into the race.

“At the top of the straight, she was still a way off them but I always thought deep down she was good enough to round them up and it's amazing to see her do it.”

In winning the Millennium, Learning To Fly earned her connections a new Ferrari, as part of a Coolmore promotion at last year's yearling sales for the first progeny of Justify to one of 16 races they earmarked, and the A$2 million-event was one of them.

“The keys are in my pocket at the moment but we'll work out the next few days who gets the car,” Wright said.

Learning To Fly is out of Group 3 winner Ennis Hill (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who is herself a daughter of Hips Don't Lie (NZ) (Stravinsky), the dam of Listed scorer Lake Geneva (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) and Acrobat (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}), who won the 2020 Inglis Nursery and now stands at Coolmore Stud.

The post Learning To Fly ‘Justifys’ The Hype appeared first on TDN | Thoroughbred Daily News | Horse Racing News, Results and Video | Thoroughbred Breeding and Auctions.

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‘It’d Be Pretty Special’: Chad Schofield Seeks To Emulate His Father In Hong Kong Sprint

Chad Schofield has the chance of producing a significant piece of history this Sunday at Sha Tin when he partners Rattan with the hope of joining his father Glyn on the G1 LONGINES Hong Kong Sprint honor roll, which would be a Hong Kong first.

Dad won the race in 2005 aboard Natural Blitz at 27-1 by 1 3/4 lengths, the only win of the horse's career, and this weekend son Chad will look to emulate his father's heroics in the HK$22 million (US$2.84 million) sprint contest when he pairs with Rattan.

“I do remember the day, I was here somewhere jumping for joy – it'd be pretty special and I'll be doing my best on Sunday,” Schofield said.

Chad spent four years of his youth here while his father Glyn was contracted to ride in Hong Kong from 2002 to 2006, before returning in 2014 with a contract of his own after forging an impressive career in Australia, notching four G1s including a major, the 2013 W.S Cox Plate aboard Shamus Award.

But Schofield and Rattan go back nearly four years to their first pairing in January, 2017, and since then the 26-year-old has been in the plate a further 18 times, including his 2019 G2 Sprint Cup success, as well as his half-length defeat to Beat The Clock in last year's G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize.

“If there ever a horse I was to be able to win the race on I would love it to be Rattan for Richard (Gibson) and his owner.

“They've been great to me for a number of seasons now and in particular this horse, we started in Class 4 together as a PPG (Privately Purchased Griffin) so it'd be very special to win this big race aboard him,” Schofield said.

The talented and appealing jockey is well entrenched among the upper echelon of Hong Kong's best, last season finishing fifth in the jockeys' championship table with a personal best 43 wins, five more than his previous high.

“I worked him (Rattan) this morning and he felt terrific, Richard (Gibson) has got him I think right where he wants him and, hopefully, we can get a good gate, get him out of the barriers cleanly and I think he's going to run a really big race,” Schofield said.

Having his fifth run back this term, the New Zealand-bred has posted two solid third-placed efforts in his most recent two runs, the G2 Premier Bowl Handicap and G2 Jockey Club Sprint.

“His last run was very good, he closed of really well – he's an older horse now and he's lost a bit of his early speed which he once had but he's certainly running well from the back – he's closing off his races really strongly,” Schofield said.

But while closing off nicely, the Richard Gibson-trainee has shown a tardiness from the barriers, twice bouncing awkwardly to the rear of the field in both runs.

“I'm surprised his gate jumping has deteriorated so badly but he's been hitting the line very strongly – his sectional times have been good,” Gibson said.

They have been good – he clocked the second fastest final 400m split in the Premier Bowl (22.32s) behind only Wishful Thinker, the winner of the race, before logging the fastest final 400m split last time out, a slick 22.34s.

“We're delighted with his physical condition, he's peaking really nicely for this time of the year – he's such a consistent and straightforward horse to train, it's nice to see him in good shape,” Gibson said.

Now a 7-year-old, he has HK$18.7 million (US$2.41 million) to his name from 33 starts, and still appears near the top of his game although nearing the twilight of his career.

“With age he's certainly gotten slower in the first quarter of the race but it's nice that he still has the willingness to finish strong,” Gibson said.

As for Schofield, he and father Glyn became the first father-son duo to ride against each other in the same race in Hong Kong, but this Sunday Chad will aim to join dad with another Hong Kong first, as winners of the same G1.

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