Champion sire Snitzel (Aus)'s Trapeze Artist (Aus) made it a hat trick of Group 1 wins this season, narrowly saluting in the G1 All Aged S. at Royal Randwick on Saturday. It was the sophomore's second Group 1 win over 1400 metres, and his racing future is in doubt, as a stud career looms a decent possibility.
Duly favoured at 2-1 after landing the 1200-metre G1 T.J. Smith S. during the first Saturday of The Championships on Apr. 7, the dark bay with the distinctive blinkers, found a good position in third one off the fence behind Showtime (Aus) (Snitzel {Aus}, who was tackled by Le Romain (Aus) (Hard Spun) at the 1000-metre point. The Gerald Ryan charge had The Mission (Aus) (Choisir {Aus}) to his inside for the majority of the backstretch and was at least three off the fence as he began to let down 400 metres from home. As the field spread out for the run in, Trapeze Artist responded to hoop Tye Angland's left-handers, and he drew level with Le Romain to his inside. It took several strides to subdue that MG1SW, but ultimately Trapeze Artist won by a head, with Showtime hanging on grimly for third 1 1/2 lengths back, giving their Arrowfield-based sire the first and third in the Group 1 weight-for-age feature. The time was a new track record of 1:20.33.
Ryan was keen to have the colt come back at four, as he told Racing.com, “I'd like to see him keep racing. [I'd] like to come back for an Everest. He'd be sensational in that. Even today, people will say he wasn't impressive, but he ran a track record, he's beaten a two or three-time Group 1 winner in Le Romain, who's had more improvement coming off the T.J. [Smith]. He got the job done. He only had 23 days off after the run at Flemington and has come back a stronger horse and if he went out now and had six or seven weeks' break, he might be the fair dinkum top of the world as a 4-year-old. Let's just hope we get a chance to show it.”
A winner of the G3 Black Opal S. and third in the G1 Inglis Sires' S. in the latter half of his juvenile season, Trapeze Artist earned his first Group 1 badge in the G1 Golden Rose third up in September, but threw in a clunker when 15th in the G1 Coolmore Stud S. to the Royal Ascot-bound Merchant Navy (Aus) (Fastnet Rock {Aus}) on Nov. 4. Spelled for just over 11 weeks, Trapeze Artist won the G2 Expressway S. at Rosehill on Feb. 3, ran fourth in the G2 Hobartville S. there later that month and went one better in Kementari (Aus) (Lonhro {Aus})'s 1600-metre Randwick Guineas on Mar. 10, one start before the T. J. Smith.
Pedigree Notes…
Trapeze Artist, one of 13 Group 1 winners for his sire, was followed by a yearling half-brother by Zoustar (Aus) that died, and a half-sister by Wandjina (Aus) born last year. Snitzel is enjoying another championship-caliber season, his progeny earnings north of A$26 million and already 25 stakes winners with over three months of racing left. The dam of Trapeze Artist, Treppes (Aus) (Domesday {Aus}) is a half-sister to G1 Stradbroke H. hero Crawl (Aus) (Dr Grace {Aus}), while under the third dam is G1SW Boardwalk Angel (Aus) (Bletchingly {Aus}), herself dam of New Zealand champion spinter/miler Coogee Walk (NZ) (Success Express). Click for the free Arion.co.nz catalogue-style pedigree.
Saturday, Randwick, Australia
ALL AGED S.-G1, A$605,000 (US$463,963/£331,381/€377,602), ATC, 4-21, Open WFA, 1400mT, 1:20.33 (NCR), gd.
1–TRAPEZE ARTIST, 56.5, c, 3, by Snitzel
1st Dam: Treppes, by Domesday
2nd Dam: Traipse, by Bletchingly
3rd Dam: Elegant Walk, by Le Cordonnier (GB)
(A$250,000 RNA Ylg '16 INGAPR). O-Vieira Racing (Mgr: B
Vieira), B Vieira, Mrs S G Vieira, T Vieira, Mrs C Vieira-Choy & J
A Choy; B-Vieira Group Pty Ltd (NSW); T-G A Ryan; J-T
Angland; A$349,000. Lifetime Record: 14-6-0-2, A$3,102,850.
Werk Nick Rating: A+++. *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Le Romain, 59.0, g, 5, Hard Spun (USA)–Mignard, by
Strategic. O-A Carusi, A P Agius, L Nicaj, A Labbozzetta, G
Serratore, J Altamura, Miss M Bilusic & Mrs S Livaja; B-Mr A
Carusi (NSW); T-K A Lees; J-J R Collett; A$114,000.
3–Showtime, 56.5, c, 3, Snitzel–Flidais, by Timber Country
(USA). (A$1,100,000 Ylg 2016 MM Gold Coast Yearling Sale).
O-Arrowfield Pastoral (Mgr: J M Messara), K Yoshida, Belford
Productions (Mgr: A B Jones), Pinecliff Racing (Mgr: J B Munz),
Koundouris Bloodstock (Mgr: A E Koundouris) & G P I Racin;
B-Arrowfield Group Pty Ltd (NSW); T-M, W & J Hawkes; J-C W
Brown; A$58,000.
Margins: HD, 1HF, SHD. Odds: 1.30, 10.00, 16.00.
Also Ran: Hartnell (GB), The Mission, It's Somewhat (USA), Muraaqeb, Tom Melbourne (Ire), Satono Rasen (Jpn), Brave Smash (Jpn).
Click for the Racing Post chart. Racing NSW Video.
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