By Lorenzo Di-Mauro Hayes
Four different trainers and jockeys claimed victories in the four Group 1s on an action-packed Day 1 of the championships at Royal Randwick in Sydney, which presented plenty of storylines. In the lead-up to the race meeting however, the biggest storyline was the weather in Sydney. The race meeting looked unlikely to go ahead, after 230mm of rain hit the city in a 24-hour period.
Leading trainer Peter Moody posted two videos to his account on the social media platform X (formerly twitter), early on Saturday morning. The first was from the Randwick stables posted at 5:20am, showing very heavy rain, with Moody declaring “I don’t think we’ll have to worry about watering the track today.” The other posted at 6:05am, showed Moody walking through a rain-soaked Randwick in-field barefoot while speaking to fellow trainer Michael Freedman. When Moody asked if Freedman had a tip for punters, Freedman replied “book a lunch somewhere.”
Despite social media users labelling the decision to run the meeting as planned as “disgraceful,” the steward’s decision proved to be the right one. The rain cleared after 6:30am and every race was run under the shining Sydney sun with little to no cloud cover. The Randwick track started with a rating of a heavy 10, but at 11:15am the track was upgraded to a heavy 9, and after Race 4 at 2:20pm the track was upgraded again to a heavy 8. When former jockey Corey Brown walked the track, he said he was “absolutely amazed” by the state of the track, stating it felt like a soft 6 or 7.
The first of the Group 1s was for the 2-year-olds. The $1 Million Inglis Sires’ (1400m) was won by the only filly in the race, Manaal. The Michael Freedman trained 2-year-old, got the better of Traffic Warden, Coleman, and Storm Boy, all of whom Manaal finished behind when she ran fifth in the Golden Slipper at Rosehill on March 23rd. Manaal came down the outside and dove late to win by a nose over Traffic Warden, the bob of the head the difference of $504,500 worth of prizemoney for the connections. It was Manaal’s third win from five starts and has been nominated for Group 2 $1 Million Percy Sykes Stakes which will be run at Royal Randwick this coming Saturday.
The running of the $3 Million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m), saw a surprise winner when the Peter Moody trained Chain of Lightning came up the inside and held off some of the world’s fastest racehorses, including a gutsy Bella Nipotina who was beaten by a short neck and I Wish I Win a short half head away in third. Chain of Lightning’s win came off the back of a strong victory in the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes two weeks earlier. Less than one length covered the first six across the line in the second Group 1 on the card. It was Moody’s fourth win in the race, having trained I Wish I Win to a victory 12 months ago and twice winning the race with the legendary Black Caviar in 2011 and again in 2013 in what proved to be her 25th and final race. Chain of Lightning ensured the two men in Moody’s social media videos — which had many online calling for the race meeting to not ahead — Peter Moody and Michael Freedman, would each train a Group 1 winner.
Celestial Legend burst through the chasing pack under the hard riding of Tyler Schiller to claim victory in the third of the Group 1s, the $4 Million Doncaster Mile (1600m), defeating Pericles, Militarize and Nugget, all of whom looked like they could be the winner in the last 100 meters of the race. “This colt is unbelievable; he is a superstar” said Celestial Legend’s trainer Les Bridge. Bridge, who is 85 years old, won the Doncaster for the second time, his first win was 37 years prior, when the $101 long shot Row Of Waves won the 1987 edition. The grey colt is a son of the 2013 Australian Derby winner Dundeel, and became the first horse to win the Doncaster Mile after having won the Randwick Guineas earlier in the same year. Schiller’s brilliant ride over the iconic Randwick mile resulted in him winning his third group 1.
Riff Rocket joined iconic champions of the Australian turf, Dulcify and Mahogany, after the winner of last November’s Victoria Derby, won the $2 Million Australian Derby (2400m). Riff Rocket cemented his place as the best 3-year-old in the country and the victory was a first for his trainer Chris Waller, best known for training Winx to 33 straight wins and 25 victories at the Group 1 level. One of Winx’s part owners, Debbie Kepitis, bred Riff Rocket and is part of the ownership group. Waller has now won 160 Group 1s and jockey James McDonald has won 84. McDonald said after the race his performance was impacted by Schiller’s ride on Celestial Legend in the Doncaster, “I got inspired by Tyler's ride. What he can do I can do better.” Riff Rocket grabbed the lead with 150 meters to go and held off Ceolwulf to win by a margin of 0.34 lengths. Riff Rocket was sired by the legendary American Pharoah, who in 2015 won the American Triple Crown, the first horse to do so in 37 years and then became the first Triple Crown winner to win the Breeders' Cup Classic and has since become a leading sire. He has now won seven races from eleven starts and three Group 1s, the Victorian and Australian Derby, as well as winning the Rosehill Guineas in the lead up to the Australian Derby. His prize money tally has now surpassed more than $3,500,000.
In addition to four different trainers and jockeys, the four group 1s were won by one filly (Mannal), mare (Chain of Lightning), colt (Celestial Legend) and gelding (Riff Rocket) each. As has been the case in recent years, The Championships lived up to its name, with some of Australasia's best horses running for huge prize money.
Day 2 of The Championships will be Saturday April 13th, which again will see four group 1s run: Queen of the Turf Stakes (1600m), Australian Oaks (2400m), Sydney Cup (3200m) and Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m).
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