Northerly Stakes (Group 1)
THE Michael Grantham-trained Cosmic Crusader defied a pair of Grant and Alan Williams-trained horses to win the final Australian Group 1 of the calendar year.
Settled just forward of midfield in the Northerly Stakes over Ascot’s 1,800 metres, Cosmic Crusader swept into the race with purpose, travelling six-wide through the final bend.
Hitting the front with 200 metres remaining, the Maurice gelding quickly got away before being charged at late by the Group 1 Railway winner two weeks earlier. Denied by a half-head, the Awesome Rock gelding Watch Me Rock had to settle for second with the Iffraaj gelding Western Empire claiming third.
“I don’t know how to explain how I’m feeling,” said Michael Grantham who was celebrating his first Group 1 win having been an apprentice jockey and then a harness racing driver before running his own stable.
“I shouldn’t say it’s another race because it’s not like that, it’s another race, but I’ll be the same person I was coming into this race. It’s a massive team effort.
“People do this week after week in Sydney and Melbourne and it hasn’t hit me yet. You only have to ride them at trackwork to know what they feel like, and this guy is the real deal.”
The win was also emotionally charged for jockey Clint Johnston-Porter who rode his first Group 1 winner 12 months earlier.
“My grandad passed away last night and it means a lot, winning this,” said Johnston-Porter. “To get the job done is quite special and with Pop passing away last night, I just knew that he was carrying me across the line.”
Owned and bred by Bob Peters and sporting his ubiquitous cerise with white crossed sashes, Cosmic Crusader has now won half of his 18 starts, earning over A$1.23 million in the process.
New Zealand
TAB Mufhasa Classic (Group 1)
BOX-seated, one behind the leader and on the rail, the Savabeel mare Provence took the shortest way home to win the Group 1 Mufhasa Classic over Trentham’s 1,600 metres.
Trained by Stephen Marsh and sitting on the fourth line of betting, Provence with George Rooke up, had to dig deep to keep out a pair of Group 1 winners, the Proisir gelding Waitak and the Vadamos mare La Crique as all three hit the line with barely a nose and a nose separating the trio. The win, Provence’s seventh in 19 starts, took her over the NZ$1 million mark.
“What a great field it was,” said Stephen Marsh. “It was a brilliant race with Group 1 winners galore and she pulled out and won. It could have gone either way of three.”
“By Savabeel, they just keep getting better and better. Once they hit form and know how to win, they are bloody hard to beat. We need more of them.
“She doesn’t need to do too much more, she is a three-time Group 1 winner. Any time this mare wins it means a lot because she is such a fighter and her owner and breeder Tony Rider has put so much into racing. And now he has so many others involved as she is also part-owned by Social Racing.
“That whole Social Racing team bring such a wonderful dynamic to winning and so many people to the track.”
A NUMBER of catalogues are now available for next year’s yearling sales which begins with the Gold Coast Magic Millions. Running from January 13th, Magic Millions Book 1 is spread across four sessions with the final of the 980 lots going through on Friday, January 16th.
Across the Tasman Sea, just nine days later, New Zealand Bloodstock’s National Yearling Sale at Karaka marks its 100th year. Book 1 will begin the day after Ellerslie’s Karaka Millions raceday, with 567 lots being offered on the 25th and 26th January. From the February 8th to 10th, the Riverside complex at Warwick Farm in Sydney will host the Inglis Classic yearling sale where 798 lots will go under the hammer.
Whilst the catalogue for the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling sale (March 29th and 30th) is yet to be released, the catalogue for Victoria’s Inglis Premier Yearling sale is available.
Book 1 has 579 yearlings spread across March 1st and 2nd. All catalogues can be found on the respective sales companies’ websites.