| FEATURE RACE COMMENT |
YEAR: 2004
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The Wyatt & Wilson Print Superstars 4yo Championship again lived up to its billing as one of the most exhilarating races on the Addington calendar. The 2004 edition was no exception with another uppercut for the favourites, dashing moves that backfired, a tight finish, and a race that again tripped the backmarkers.
It all made for great theatre, and marvellous action, and the hero in the end was the unsung, quiet achiever, Chris Riley. In his favour was a quick start from a front line draw and busy midrace activity by Likmesiah, Born Again Christian, Lennon and Waipawa Lad that eventually brought them to heel.
Colin De Filippi had Chris Riley second early, behind Jimmy Kelly, but lost his place as Born Again Christian went forward. There was more push and bustle from the 1200 metres, then Mark Jones suddenly shot off at great speed with Waipawa Lad that took him to a clear lead near the 600 metres. The winning post was still a small monument in the distance when Waipawa Lad started to buckle and battle 200m out. The boys in blue had arrived back on the scene by then, but Lennon, Born Again Christian and their tiring stablemate had a new enforcer with them, De Filippi hunting up with Chris Riley. He came with a rattling good run that took him past Lennon by a neck, with a neck back to Born Again Christian. "Waipawa Lad opened them up for me. That really made it for us," said De Filippi. Mark Purdon said the sprint by Waipawa Lad "took the punch out of" Born Again Christian.
Chris Riley is raced by the Southern Men Syndicate - Murray Stuart, Warren Hamilton, Robin Jenkins, Noel Costello, Clark McLean, John Davis, Richard Hall, Robert Davis, Rod Moffat and Chris Widdon who had asked De Filippi to find them a suitable horse. De Filippi cautioned them to be patient. "I kept in touch with them until I drove Chris Riley at Blenheim and liked him. I drove him again at Greymouth, and thought then that he was the horse for them," he said. De Filippi, who trains the son of Christian Cullen in partnership with his wife Julie and is also a member of the syndicate, knew he was putting the horse in at the deep end. "I didn't really expect him to beat them tonight," he said.
Previous surprise winners of the race include Anvilanunoit ($27), Glen Lustre ($77), Lucky Boy ($19), Pathfinder ($41), Defoe ($22) and The Orator ($18).
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 13Oct04
YEAR: 2003
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Roman Gladiator had something to crow about after winning the Ferrymead Restaurant & Bars NZ Welcome stakes.
This was the race he should not have won. Because not only did he give hot favourite Lennon a start and a beating, he did it with a flat tyre wrapped round the rim. After starting from the second line, behind Bull Run, he improved three-wide down the back, hauling the damaged wheel that had been affected from as far out as the 1400m peg. Lennon lost ground on the corner, while he was trailing his stablmate Classy Cullen, and then sorted himself out to rally strongly in the straight. And just when it appeared he had done enough to win, Roman Gladiator came with a woosh down the outside to take it by a neck.
Roman Gladiator is raced by Amanda Swain and Marie Neil, of Sydney. They bought the Christian Cullen-Assisi yearling colt for $19,000, when they really shouldn't have done so at all. "Marie wanted us to buy a filly, so her husband Peter could race and then breed from it," said Robin Swain, Amanda's husband and Knapdale co-trainer of the 3-year-old with Colin Baynes. "I don't exactly know why we finished up buying a colt, except that I thought he had a head just like his father's. He had a wee curb at the back, but I knew that wouldn't worry him. I suppose I just liked the look of him," he said. For his education, Swain put Roman Gladiator in the cart most days and has seen him improve each time he's been in.
He was driven in the Welcome by Colin De Filippi, who will continue to care for him now that the owners have decided to make the late payment for the Sires' Stakes Series. He has a heat for that at Forbury Park on Thursday, and another week or so later at Addington. "It is not often we race 2-year-olds," said Swain, "and if we do it's usually in our home area. Country Ways was one we could have, but he hurt a stifle at that age," he said. Swain and Baynes have 10 in work, including By The Left, a 3-year-old by Fake Left that Swain maintains will go right through the grades. "I was hoping there would have been a race for him on the last night of the meeting up here, and I think he would have won it," he said.
De Filippi has already given the horse a stamp of quality. In a quick reflection immediately after the race, he said: "He could be the second-best 2-year-old I have driven, after Courage Under Fire."
Roman Gladiator is the eigth foal fron Assisi, the winner of 11 races including the Leonard Memorial at two. Her first foal was the good performer, Chiavari. Roman Gladiator was bred by Stephen Shanks and Maurice Scown.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 16Apr03
YEAR: 2003
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Two Christchurch milkies stood quietly in the birdcage during the ceremony following the close finish between Lennon and Born Again Christian in the $200,000 PGG NZ Yearling Sales Series Open.
Without fanfare, they slipped into the nearby bar, made a toast to Lennon, and left with the comforting satisfaction of knowing the major part they played in the win. Don Bates and his racing partner Steve Hammar are small time breeders now operating in the top commercial section of the market. Bates bred Lennon and sold the son of In The Pocket and Penny Lane at the sales for $68,000 to John and Anne Seaton, Tim Vance and Jeanine Browne.
Bates, aged 52, raced his first horse when he was 18, and did it in his mother's name because at that time an owner had to be 21. Hammar has not been in the game 35 years like Bates has, but after 20 years he also has a substantial portfolio. Penny Lane, the dam of Lennon, has since left two fillies, who will not be sold. "One is a Fake Left yearling who is big and will need time," said Bates. "The weanling is by Presidential Ball, and she is identical to Lennon at the same age," he said.
But they will have three colts for next year's sales - a Soky's Atom from Paperback Writer, a Soky's Atom from Jacinta Bret, and an Armbro Operative from Westburn Belle. This year, they sold two colts by Fake Left, one from Westburn Belle for $21,000, and Alright On The Night's for $27,000. As part of the stake payout, Bates and Hammar received a vendor's bonus worth $3500.
While Lennon was amongst the top 2-year-olds this season, his claim to being the best became flakey when he was beaten into seventh behind Midfrew Tailormade the start before but was unlucky. To regain the prestige he had, Lennon had to put up a good fight and this he did. Blair Orange had him on the pace but in the open from the 800m. It was a tough battle from there, but Lennon was up to it.
Stablemate Born Again Christian, who also had some credibility to recover, produced a withering run to give Orange something to think about as they eased up. He missed by a nose, with the roughie V For, by Christian Cullen, finishing well for third. Classy Cullen blew his chances with an early gallop, while stablemate Likmesiah was checked and lost his chance when that occurred.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HRWeekly 14May03
YEAR: 2003
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| Lennon winning the PGG Southern Graduate |
In The Pocket colt Lennon reaffirmed his position as the front runner of the first-season pacers at Addington after a blip in the scoreline, but Mark Purdon knows the pack is not far behind. And that the dust won't have settled on the issue of 2YO Pacer of the Year until after this week's Welcome Stakes and next month's Yearling Sales Series Final, such is the quality of the opposition.
Fortunately though, about half of the pack are stablemates, which was evidenced in last week's $50,000 PGG NZ Yearling Sales Southern Graduate, where the first three home qualified for the $200,000 Final on May 9 and joined northern graduates in Born Again Christian, Anothernightout and Tango Tango.
This is a very classy and competitive crop of juveniles, and Lennon had to fight like a tiger to get past Sounds Like Albert in the passing lane after a good trip. Stablemate Likmesiah (Jimmy Curtin) also closed purposefully to be only a nose away and a length ahead of pacemaker and another Christian Cullen in Purdon's barn in Born Again Christian (Purdon), who wilted late after setting up a 57.3 closing half. Tumble (In The Pocket gelding) was not far away either for Colin De Filippi, nor was Classy Cullen, the third Christian Cullen and fourth Purdon runner.
Purdon, who handed Lennon's reins over to second-string driver Blair Orange because he is more bullet-proof at this point in their careers, said Lennon was now back in tune after "getting away on us a bit" when beaten into third on the track after leading up. "He had some hard racing, particularly at Wyndham after an early miss-cue, so we went easy on him for a while, and last time when I went for him he didn't respond," he said.
Lennon had twice put away Julius Caesar, in the Cardigan Bay Stakes in Auckland over Christmas and in the Sapling Stakes (in 1:56.9) at Ashburton in February, after sitting parked, and dead-heated for first in the Kindergarten Stakes in 1:57 after another tough trip before going under to Likmesiah and Classy Cullen. A few weeks and the addition of pull-up blinds, which had signalled things had been turned around when Lennon was worked at Addington early last week, was all that was needed to have him back to his forceful best.
Lennon, the first foal from the speedy Vance Hanover mare Penny Lane, has now raced six times for five wins and $81,000 after being purchased at the Premier Sale a little over a year ago for $68,000. Purdon was not entirely happy with Born Again Christian however, after trying for an all-the-way win. "He doesn't feel dead right so we might have to get him checked out."
Sounds Like Albert, an Albert Albert gelding from the winning In The Pocket mare Sounds Swell with Graham Court, was a $14,000 purchase last year and has now won over $10,000, $1500 of which was for being the first non-winner home, a scheme which also saw Tumble taking home $2800 for finishing fifth in his debut, a stake which is often better than finishing first in a maiden.
Credit: Frank Marrion writing in HRWeekly 9Apr03