Queensland Derby (Group 1)

LAST Saturday’s Group 1 Queensland Derby over 2,400 metres at Eagle Farm capped a stellar day for Chris Waller as the stable landed a treble.

Kovalica, ridden by James McDonald and sent out at $1.70, was a dominant victor, cruising home by two lengths, eased down. Second was the Manhattan Rain gelding Fame who had a further two-lengths on the third-placed Fastnet Rock gelding Stroke Of Luck.

“It was lovely,” said McDonald of one of his easiest Group 1 wins. “Everything worked out really well. He got into a beautiful rhythm from the moment I left the stalls up to about the 1,000 metres, when I thought, ‘Well, it’s his time to do a little bit of work. He’s here to shine’.

“I put him into a spot where he was exposed, and then he floated into the race from there, and he did the rest. He was waiting for me to push the button at the top of the straight.”

Purchased from the Curraghmore draft at the 2021 Karaka Book 1 sale for NZ$110,000, Kovalica becomes the fourth Group 1 winner for Ocean Park who stands at Waikato Stud.

Kovalica has now won six of his nine starts with a 2,100 metre Group 3 win at Eagle Farm an early signal of his trajectory.

“He had the perfect preparation earlier in the season, having won over 2,100 metres prior to Christmas,” said Waller. “He had that little hiccup two weeks ago, but we didn’t panic and gave him that extra run.

“James (McDonald) gave him a faultless ride today, and once he hit the front, I knew he’d be all right.”

Kingsford Smith Cup (Group 1)

IN 10 months, the So You Think gelding Think About It has gone from a first-up three-year-old maiden winner to a Group 1 star at his ninth start.

Trained by Joseph Pride for a Proven Thoroughbreds-managed syndicate, jockey Sam Clipperton let Think About It drift four-wide on the bend of the A1$ million Kingsford Smith Cup over Eagle Farm’s 1,300 metres.

Quickly onto the front-runners, Think About It cruised up to Rothfire to hit the lead 150 metres out, going on to win by a length over the Frankel gelding Converge who finished strongly to push the Rothesay gelding Rothfire into third, as the race favourite, the former Ado McGuinness-trained A Case Of You finished five-lengths from the winner in ninth, in this his fourth Australian start.

Explosive

“What a performance,” reflected a delighted Joe Pride. “He sat three deep, he got a bit of cover, but he was explosive, and strong through the line. This horse is just going from strength to strength. It was a dynamic performance today.”

Purchased for $70,000 from the Inglis Melbourne Premier, Think About It, out of the Flying Spur mare Tiare, becomes the 37th individual Inglis-sold Group 1 winner in the past five years to be purchased for less than $100,000.

“It’s pretty exceptional, really,” said Proven Thoroughbreds’ Jamie Walter.

Progress

“To win eight from nine, it’s bloody hard to do, let alone to progress from a midweeker at Warwick Farm in January to a weight-for-age Group 1 in May.

“He’s top class this bloke, he really is a phenomenal horse and he drops 5kgs into the ($3 million Group 1) Stradbroke (1,400 metres) now so assuming he gets home to Warwick Farm and pulls up well, we just have to have a go at the ‘Straddy’.”

Think About It is now a $3 favourite for the Stradbroke Handicap on June 10th ahead of the Waterhouse and Bott-trained Hawaii Five Oh who won the Group 3 Fred Best Classic, also on Saturday’s Eagle Farm card.

ROBBED of the winning ride on Alpine Edge on Magic Millions raceday having sustained a serious fall that week, Co. Donegal-born Martin Harley returned to the saddle last Saturday riding Bohemian Lad into second for David Vandyke at Ipswich at his only ride for the day.

“The timing has been frustrating but I will take walking again over winning at Magic Millions and some other things,” said the 33-year-old Harley.

“It puts it all into perspective, you take things like being able to get out of bed for granted sometimes. When you get a proper smash up like I just got, you sit back and think about it a bit, I’m just happy I can walk away from it again.

“I had done my neck once before, the C1 and C2, this time it was C0, C1 and C2, when you get close to bones in your neck, it does get scary and you start to think about it all.

“I am doing physio three days a week and I am very pleased with it, the strength seems to be coming back. When I got back on the horse, it felt good and there are no real nerves there which is a good sign.

“I just want to start back with one or two, we will start off slowly and build back up.”

LAST week’s Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale on the Gold Coast saw some staggering results. None more eye-watering than the A$33,466,000 spent by Yulong on 60 lots at an average of $557,767, including the top sale purchase of $4.1 million for the triple Group 1 winner Forbidden Love, by All Too Hard.

The result was just $100,000 short of the sale record set by Sunlight in 2020. Overall 15 mares sold for $1 million or greater, as the sale recorded an average of $215,546 from 500 lots sold at the clearance rate of 78%.

Syndicate

Consigned as a racing and breeding proposition the second top lot was the Annabel Neasham-trained Sunshine In Paris. The Group 1-winning Invader filly sold to a James Harron syndicate for A$3.9 million who said theywill keep the filly in training, having been bought as an unraced two-year-old for $90,000.

Behind her was the $3.2 million paid by Yulong for dual Group I-winning Choisir mare Snapdancer, a $180,000 Magic Millions yearling buy. While the dam of the Royal Ascot bound Coolangatta, Piping Hot sold for $3 million to Tom Magnier.

“She’s in-foal to I Am Invincible, Coolangatta’s a champion and she’s a gorgeous looking type, so we’re delighted to get her,” said Magnier of the 10-year-old mare.