Protagonist Lands With A Bang For Haggas Down Under

by TDN AusNZ

Protagonist (Fr) (Wootton Bassett {GB}) continued the success story of British trainer William Haggas in Australia when he captured the G3 Sky High S. (2000 metres) at Rosehill (video), beating fellow French-bred 6-year-old gelding Zeyrek (Fr) (Sea The Stars {Ire}) when holding on in a photo finish. It won't be a huge surprise to the team at home, as you may remember Haggas serving a warning on Protagonist late last month when he told TDN AusNZ readers, “You shouldn't underestimate him, he's quite a smart horse.”

Still, that was before the horse had touched down on Australian soil and there have been plenty of hurdles to jump since then, and the local preparation has been ably handled by assistant trainer Issy Paul, her second stint in charge of the raiding team having accompanied Addeybb (Ire) (Pivotal {GB}) two years ago.

“To come off a flight and after two weeks of quarantine–we've only come out of quarantine today–he's awesome,” Paul said.

“We weren't sure whether the ground was going to suit him, particularly when they upgraded the track, but what a star.”

Whilst Paul declined to commit to a future target for the horse, James McDonald pointed to improvement still to come.

“He's a nice, solid galloper who handles himself beautifully,” McDonald said. “I think he'll improve a bit off that as well–he hit the front a fair way from home and just star-gazed a bit, just had a good look around. When they got to him he found again, so that was impressive.”

Protagonist was initially purchased as a yearling by Mark McStay/Avenue Bloodstock for €125,000 at Arqana August in 2018.

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Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens

Fillies and mares will be spotlighted this Friday night in Sydney against the backdrop of Australia's greatest ever mare – Winx — being immortalized in bronze at her home track Rosehill Gardens. The Group 1 Coolmore Classic heads a nine-race program at Rosehill which is available for livestream on the new Sky Racing World App and will be broadcast live on TVG (First Post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT).

Sydney's “Autumn Carnival” moves to Rosehill for the next three weeks and, in advance of this Friday night's Coolmore Classic card, a magnificent statue of Winx has been unveiled and will greet racing fans directly inside the track's main entrance. The 1,500-pound monument to the racing legend and her regular rider, Hugh Bowman, is 110% of their actual size: literally “larger than life.”

Bowman was quite moved at the ceremony – on International Women's Day – crediting the “extraordinary detail and accuracy” captured by renowned sculptor Tanya Bartlett during her 14-month labor of love. Winx's part-owner, Debbie Kepitis, marveled how “it is so touching that every time I walk through the gates at Rosehill now I can say hello to Winx!” And the grand mare's trainer, Chris Waller, echoed his champion's lasting inspiration by saying, “Winx is proof that dreams can turn into reality in this sport.”

As Waller's base of operations, Rosehill was Winx's “home track.” However, she never contested a Coolmore Classic and the race remains one of the few gems on Australia's racing calendar to have eluded Waller. The New Zealand native, firmly ensconced as Sydney's premier trainer, will saddle Madam Rouge (18-1) and Subpoenaed (11-1) in this year's renewal, carded as the seventh race at 9:15 p.m. PT.

One of Waller's biggest obstacles to a first Coolmore success is 3-year-old filly Forbidden Love (5-1 favorite), a last-start G1 winner against her own age. The filly has already acquitted herself admirably against elders, finishing a close third at G1 level last October (the Australian racing season begins in August). Forbidden Love is also adept on all track conditions, which will stand her in good stead with rain forecast for the second half of this week in Sydney.

Second choice in early wagering is lightly-raced 4-year-old Chaillot (7-1), who finished only a head behind Forbidden Love in the aforementioned Group One last October and has a massive 21-pound weight swing in her favor under the two races' respective conditions. One query against Chaillot is her never having raced outside of Victoria – the Coolmore will be her first experience in Sydney's clockwise direction – but, on weights alone, she will take a power of beating.

A week that began by globally celebrating women's achievements could end with a G1 victory by an Australian mare named for an American woman who reached the pinnacle in her chosen field: Krone has won her last two races at 30-1 and 15-1, and is a 16-1 shot to make it a third straight stakes upset in the Coolmore Classic. Colonial Affair was similar odds (13-1) when Julie Krone became the first female rider to win a Triple Crown race. And Krone's crowning achievement, the 1993 Belmont Stakes, occurred in similar rainy conditions that are relished by her equine namesake Down Under.

Finally, in a week that featured International Women's Day, it's fitting to reflect on the career of last year's Coolmore Classic winner, Con Te Partiro. A graduate of the 2015 Keeneland September Yearling Sale, the $130,000 purchase won races at Keeneland, Saratoga, and Royal Ascot when trained by Wesley Ward. She was subsequently acquired for $575,000 at the 2018 Fasig-Tipton November Sale by a partnership of U.S.-based SF Bloodstock and Australia's Newgate Farm, and Con Te Partiro transferred to Australia's “Queen of Racing,” Gai Waterhouse. After a G3 win, she was retired but failed to get into foal. Brought back into training, the mare won consecutive G1 races, beginning with the 2020 Coolmore Classic.

An incredible journey came full circle when Con Te Partiro returned to Kentucky and was offered at last November's Keeneland Breeding Stock Sale, although she was passed in after not meeting her reserve. The 7-year-old daughter of Scat Daddy has been privately purchased by Sheikh Fahad of Qatar Racing for $1.6 million, with plans for her to be served by a stallion in England.

The Rosehill card will be broadcast live on TVG this Friday night (first post: 8:35 p.m. ET / 5:35 p.m. PT) alongside cards from Gold Coast, Gosford and Ipswich. All races will be live-streamed in HD on the new Sky Racing World Appskyracingworld.com and major ADW platforms such as TVG, TwinSpiresXpressbet, NYRABets, WatchandWagerHPIbet, and AmWager. Wagering is also available via these ADW platforms. Fans can get free access to live-streaming, past performances and expert picks on all races at skyracingworld.com.

A native of Brisbane, Australia, Michael Wrona has called races in six countries. Wrona's vast U.S. experience includes race calling at Los Alamitos, Hollywood Park, Arlington and Santa Anita, calling the 2000 Preakness on a national radio network and the 2016 Breeders' Cup on the International simulcast network. Wrona also performed a race call voiceover for a Seinfeld episode called The Subway.

The post Australia: Winx Immortalized At Her Home Track Of Rosehill Gardens appeared first on Horse Racing News | Paulick Report.

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Breeders’ Cup Winner Bulletin Set For Delayed Aussie Debut

Bulletin (City Zip), who took the inaugural running of the Breeders’ Cup Juvenile Turf Sprint at Churchill Downs in 2018, makes his Australian debut for trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott in Saturday’s A$125,000 Sky Racing Active H. over 1100 meters at Rosehill Gardens in Sydney. He was scratched from a similar spot last weekend at Randwick.

Bred in Kentucky by CresRan and sold for $250,000 as a Keeneland September yearling, Bulletin first raced for the partnership of WinStar Farm, China Horse Club and SF Racing and was trained by Todd Pletcher to a debut victory in the Hollywood Beach S. ahead of a 2 3/4-length tally in the Juvenile Turf Sprint, contested in testing underfoot conditions. Winner of the Palisades Turf Sprint in five starts at three, Bulletin made a pair of starts under the care of Steve Asmussen last season, including a runner-up effort in a turf sprint allowance at Churchill when last seen in June.

Now racing for a conglomerate headed up by Australia’s Newgate Stud Farm and China Horse Club, the son of GSW Sue’s Good News (Woodman) will break from gate four in a field of seven. Newgate also campaigned multiple Group 1 winner Con Te Partiro with Waterhouse and Bott, and the horsewoman is expecting a positive result.

“Like a lot of horses I have got from overseas, it has taken a little time for him to acclimatise, but he will give a great show on Saturday. Small fish are sweet to start with,” Waterhouse recently told the Sydney Morning Herald. “He is more like a gelding, he has a lovely attitude. He is a very kind sort of horse, a very nice horse.”

Bulletin, who has finished second in a pair of trials at Randwick leading up to this local unveiling (video), is a half-brother to GISW Tiz Miz Sue (Tiznow), the dam of the Japanese-based, UAE Group 3-placed Serein (Uncle Mo). The female family also includes champion Cozzene, champion and MG1SW Hawkbill (Kitten’s Joy), GISW Free Drop Billy (Union Rags) and ‘TDN Rising Star’ Souper Sensational (Curlin).

“He is worth a go down here,” Newgate’s Henry Field told the Morning Herald. “We were involved with him as a very good 2-year-old on turf in the States, but most of their big races over there are on dirt and he just didn’t handle it. After Con Te Partiro, we know if you find the right horse for Gai and her team, it can work. He is a Breeders’ Cup winner and is still an entire, so if he can work on the track he would have a future as a stallion.”

Bulletin will be ridden by Tim Clark, with post time set for 1:30 p.m. local time Saturday (9:30 p.m. ET Friday evening).

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