By Kelsey Riley
Chautauqua gave The Championships a look of familiarity when circling the field from last to win the A$2.5 million G1 TJ Smith S., just as he did last year. In the process, the gritty grey gained a berth in the GI Breeders' Cup Turf Sprint at Santa Anita Park in November. Dropping immediately back to last as stablemate Our Boy Malachi (Aus) (Top Echelon {Aus}) took up the running, with last week's G1 William Reid S. winner Flamberge (Aus) (Exceed and Excel {Aus}) and Fell Swoop shadowing him, the grey was about 12 lengths off the leaders passing the halfway point. He began to make headway as the field swung off the turn but was hung 10-wide under Tommy Berry. That proved a mere inconvenience as Chautauqua unleashed a blistering turn of foot down the middle of the track, hitting the lead at the 50 metre mark to nail Fell Swoop on the line, with the filly English making strong late progress to Chautauqua's inside to be third.
Michael Hawkes, who trains Chautauqua as part of Team Hawkes with his brother, Wayne, and father, John, said after the 5-year-old gelding recorded his fourth Group 1 win, “He just does extraordinary things. I was actually watching our other horse [Our Boy Malachi]. He was in front and gave a good kick and I knew the grey was out the back, but he just does stupid things, this horse; it's ridiculous to reel off the sort of sectionals that he does. The older this horse has got the better he has got and that just doesn't happen, it's crazy really.”
Jockey Tommy Berry, who a race earlier won the G1 Australian Derby and also took the Country Championships Final earlier on the card, said, “They wrote him off a little bit this week. Not wrote him off; they thought O'Shea's horse was the one to beat, but John [Hawkes] gave me confident instructions. He said first half of the race, forget about the race and just ride your own bit and then from the 600 metres wake him up. And Jesus, if we take him overseas we are going to have a ride, aren't we?”
Chautauqua was a A$300,000 buyback at Inglis's Easter Sale four years ago, and he continues to prove the decision to bring him home a prosperous one, having now bankrolled more than A$5 million. The grey was not immediately brilliant, winning two of seven starts as a 2-year-old, but he kicked off his 3-year-old campaign in 2014 with back-to-back scores in the G3 Bobbie Lewis Quality S. and G2 Gilgai S., both going 1200 metres at Flemington. He missed by just a quarter-length when trying Group 1 company for the first time in the G1 Darley Classic, and returned in the autumn to take the G2 Rubiton S. and finish second in Flemington's G1 Newmarket H. before winning last year's TJ Smith. Chautauqua finished third in the G1 All Aged S. when stretched out to 1400 metres just a week after the TJ Smith, and was then shelved for the winter. He won three straight, including the G1 Manikato S. under Tommy Berry, last spring before again finishing second in the Darley Classic. Chautauqua scored first-up in the G1 Black Caviar Lightning S. this season under Dwayne Dunn before failing to show his customary acceleration when third in the Mar. 12 Newmarket, but he indicated he is as good as ever back under Berry Saturday.
Wayne Hawkes confirmed Chautauqua would be aimed toward the May 5 G1 Chairman's Sprint Prize in Hong Kong–the same target earmarked for last weekend's G1 Al Quoz Sprint winner Buffering (Aus) (Mossman {Aus}).
“Yes, we're going,” he said. “We were going in December but he was at Flemington and went for a jog around the block and sprained his ankle. We're going to Hong Kong and hopefully we get there, and if we win in Hong Kong we'll look at England. He's no guarantee to go to England but we're definitely going to Hong Kong at the moment.”
In winning the TJ Smith–now twice–Chautauqua has emulated the feat of his dam, who also won the G1 Sires' Produce S. during this carnival. Chautauqua is the sixth foal out of Lovely Jubly, whose next foal was the G3 SAJC Breeders' S. winner London Lolly (Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}). Lovely Jubly has a yearling filly by More Than Ready. Her All Too Hard (Aus) foal died last year.
Saturday, Randwick, Australia
TJ SMITH S.-G1, A$2,614,500, ATC, 4-2, Open WFA, 1200mT, 1:10.10, Soft.
1–CHAUTAUQUA, 58.5, g, 5, by Encosta de Lago (Aus)
1st Dam: Lovely Jubly (MG1SW-Aus, A$1,468,500), by Lion Hunter
2nd Dam: Jaboulet (NZ), by Vice Regal (NZ)
3rd Dam: Avadell (NZ), by In the Purple (FR)
(A$300,000 RNA yrl '12 INGEAS) O-R & C Legh Racing (Mgrs: R
& Mrs C Legh), G P I Racing (Mgr: G Ingham), Gurners
Bloodstock (Mgr: M A Ramsden), G Pulitano, S W Kay, Ms M A
Keating, Wright Racing (Mgrs: P & R Wright); B-Woodbury Pty
Ltd NSW; T-M, W & J Hawkes; J-Tommy Berry; A$1,514,500.
Lifetime Record: 21-11-6-2, A$5,510,750. *1/2 to London Lolly
(Aus) (Charge Forward {Aus}), GSW-Aus, A$186,335. Werk
Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Fell Swoop, 58.5, g, 4, Not a Single Doubt–Touched in Flight,
by Fasliyev (USA). (A$45,000 Ylg 2013 WI Classic Yearling Sale;
A$20,000 Ylg 2012 WI Sydney Spring Thoroughbred Sale)
O-Mrs A E Dale, Ms M E Porter Am, M W Curtis, P Armstrong,
M E Richards, G A Singh, M J Condon, S L Dowling, I De
Landelles, Miss S M Barnes, Mrs J Curtis, Mrs J Condon, Ms A
Coxon; B-Mr L Curtis NSW; T-Matthew Dale; J-Z Purton;
A$450,000.
3–English, 54.5, f, 3, Encosta de Lago (Aus)–Court, by Anabaa
(USA). O-Newhaven Park (Mgr: Rj, So, Jw & Rc Kelly, Ga Walker
& Ns Agostini); B-Newhaven Park Stud NSW; T-Ms G
Waterhouse; J-B Shinn; A$225,000.
Margins: 1.3 len, 1.4 len, 2.9 len. Odds: 2.60, 14.00, 8.00.
Also Ran: Our Boy Malachi, Dothraki, Terravista, Delectation, Fast 'n' Rocking, Rebel Dane, Shiraz, Exosphere, Boss Lane, Famous Seamus (NZ), Knoydart, Flamberge.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
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