Heineken 3 - Railway Stakes (Group 1 Handicap)

THE Grant and Alana Williams-trained Western Empire won his sixth race in succession to claim Saturday’s Group 1 Railway Stakes at Perth’s Ascot racecourse. Group 2-placed as a maiden, the Iffraaj four-year-old gelding was sent out ‘in the red’ as a $1.60 favourite and won accordingly by four lengths.

“I knew I had the horse to get the job done,” said jockey Willie Pike. “The horse is in the zone, the stable’s training them so well, it’s a pleasure. Before he did it a little bit his way and at times it was scary, but now he’s scary good.”

Restrictions

With the Eastern states horses unable to get to Perth for the summer carnival due to Covid restrictions it will be very much a home affair, though Western Empire would seem a ‘lock’ to travel east in the autumn for owner Bob Peters.

“This horse has got so much potential and it was great to see him win like that today,” said co-trainer Alana Williams.

Zayydani lands Ballarat Cup

SAVABEEL continues to add to his stock of stakes winners following the win of Zayydani in the A$500,000 Listed Ballarat Cup last Saturday. Racing in the colours of Trelawney Stud, the Ben and J.D. Hayes-trained mare was a $12 chance despite having won the Group 2 Matriarch Stakes at her previous start against her own sex.

“The Grand Final was the Matriarch, and she came through that so well we thought we would have a crack at the Ballarat Cup, and gee, she was impressive,” said Ben Hayes. “For her to come and win and give them (the owners) a win like that with good prize money, just shows what a champ she is.”

Last year’s champion sire in New Zealand with 11 stakes winners from 56 winners, the Waikato Stud-based Savabeel has now won the past seven New Zealand titles with his 19 stakes winners in Australia and New Zealand last season matched only by Fastnet Rock.

“NOW is a good time to do it,” said Chris Waller, giving as a good an indication that he can of Verry Elleegant travelling to Europe to test herself in the northern hemisphere. She has nothing left to prove in Australia as a Group 1 winner of 10 races ranging in distances from 1,400 metres to perhaps her finest, over the 3,200 metres of the Lexus Melbourne Cup.

“The owners have their hearts set on the Arc, which is obviously a very, very hard race to win,” said Waller. “We wouldn’t come expecting to win the Arc. It’s just great racing and to be part of it is one thing and to have a horse good enough to be winning that many Group 1 races here in Australia, obviously she is at the level required to be at least competitive, of course respecting what we will be taking on.”

Waller indicated, should everything go to plan that Verry Elleegant would begin racing in mid-February with a fourth and final start on April 10th in the Group 1 Queen Elizabeth at Randwick before plotting a course to Europe.

Joining Verry Elleegant on the flight could well be Nature Strip on his way to Royal Ascot, as well as the Coolmore-owned Home Affairs, the I Am Invincible colt, a winner of the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes on Victoria Derby day.

Kah on hold for a week with broken nose

JAMIE Kah’s anticipated return to race riding this weekend has been put on hold for a week. Suffering a broken nose in a trackwork incident during the week, last season’s champion jockey will now likely return at the Pakenham Cup meeting on December 4th.

Kah has been out all spring following her three-month suspension for breaking Covid restrictions, though she was successful in the Supreme Court of overturning a further two-month suspension for the charge of giving false and or misleading information to stewards.

PETER Moody was caught off guard when he found out the former Andrew Balding-trained Spanish Mission was arriving at his stable. “It took us by surprise, I think it took the ownership group by surprise, they were actually approached and asked if they wanted to buy the horse,” said Moody. “Got the deal done and we welcomed another nice horse into the yard.”

Third in the Melbourne Cup, Spanish Mission will line up in today’s Zipping Classic with his new trainer, owners and colours in place for the 2,400-metre Group 2 at Caulfield. “He’s done two small short-sharp pieces of work, he’s shown a nice turn of foot, probably more so than the European horses we’ve had in the past.”