Australian Group One glory for Desert Lightning in Goodwood

Desert Lightning (NZ) (Pride of Dubai) is now a Group One winner on both sides of the Tasman after prevailing in a nail-biting finish to the A$1 million Sportsbet Goodwood (1200m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

Raced by Barneswood Farm’s Sarah Green and Ger Beemsterboer, Desert Lightning was guided through the early part of his career by the highly respected and now retired trainers Peter and Dawn Williams. He won five races for them including the Gr.1 TAB Classic (1600m), Gr.2 Avondale Guineas (2100m) and $1 million Aotearoa Classic (1600m), and he placed in the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m), Gr.1 Otaki-Maori WFA Classic (1600m) and the $1.5 million Karaka Millions 3YO Classic (1600m).

Subsequently transferred into the stable of Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman, Desert Lightning has won the Gr.3 Sandown Stakes (1500m) and the So You Think Stakes (1500m), along with a second in the Gr.2 PB Lawrence Stakes (1400m) and fourths in the Gr.1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) and Stradbroke Handicap (1600m).

That CV had already earned Desert Lightning a special place among the many star racehorses who have carried Barneswood Farm’s tangerine and white colours over the years, but Saturday’s Goodwood triumph lifted him to a new level.

With Sarah Green and her husband Chris on course, Desert Lightning and jockey Luke Nolen launched a powerful finish out of the pack.

Coming into the final 100m, more than half a dozen chances were lining up across the Morphettville track to take their shot at Group One glory in a grandstand finish to the Goodwood. Desert Lightning and the favourite Extragalactic (Deep Field) edged ahead of the others in the final few strides, and after a head-bobbing battle, Desert Lightning landed an $18 upset by a half-head.

“He's such a tough horse and he's such a character,” Coleman said. “He's a genuine stable favourite. You know, we just all adore him. His owners, Chris and Sarah Green, they've travelled from New Zealand all the way to Adelaide today to be here for this. He's a part of their family and it's just so special.

“We thought he was going to be a horse that would stretch out over ground, but he seems to be best when he's fresh and happy and bouncing, and that's how he is today, so it’s great. It was a fantastic ride from Luke Nolen as well.

“He's an older gelding – normally they're the quiet ones that know their job and they don't cause too much fuss. Well, he carries on out there like a two-year-old colt most mornings and upsets other horses on the track and bounces around the stable.

“We share the duties there. I ride him a bit, and our stable apprentice Emily Pozman rides him too and adores him. He's a horse that everyone in the stable just loves.”

Desert Lightning has quickly become a favourite for Nolen too.

“He's been flying at home,” he said. “He had a tough run when he was fourth with 60 kilos on his back first-up in the Hareeba (Listed, 1200m). The camp and myself had genuine hopes that he could win the race here today. He had a winnable weight and an economical run in the race. I presented him to win the race, but I just wasn’t sure on the line whether we’d got it or not.

“The horse has been going really well, so I think the next port of call is Queensland for another go at the Stradbroke. He sprinted well today on soft ground, there's a lot of options for him, so I'll leave it in the camp's capable hands the way he goes off the back of it, but I'll be joining him wherever he goes.

“The Greens, they come over from New Zealand and watch him run every time. They keep reinvesting in the camp at home as well, so they're very good people, and they've never pressured us with this horse at all.

“He came across from New Zealand with very nice form, and they just allowed Peter and Katherine to do their thing. And they're just wonderful racing fans, and it's great to see connections like this rewarded with good races.

“It was good to see him turn that confidence we've had at home and in his work into winning a Group One here in Australia.”

From a 32-start career, Desert Lightning has now recorded eight wins, five seconds and four thirds. He has earned over A$2.2 million in prize money.

Desert Lightning was bred by German native Wessel Van der Scheer under the Mahoenui Partnership banner and is by Pride Of Dubai out of the High Chaparral mare Isstoora.

Presented by Little Avondale Stud as a yearling at Karaka, Desert Lightning was purchased by Peter and Dawn Williams for $150,000.

Desert Lightning is a half-brother to quality sprinter Oak Hill (NZ) (Per Incanto), whose eight wins include the Gr.2 Rubiton Stakes (1100m). Another half-brother is Oak Lightning (NZ) (Per Incanto), a two-year-old whose only start to date was a second in the Listed Redoute’s Choice Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield last month.

Both Oak Hill and Oak Lightning are by Per Incanto, and Isstoora now has a weanling filly by the Little Avondale Stud stallion. She went to him again last spring.- NZ Racing Desk

Pride Of Jenni does it again in Hollindale

Pride Of Jenni’s (Pride Of Dubai) runaway front-running heroics have brought racetrack crowds to their feet in Victoria and New South Wales over the past few years, and on Saturday it was Queensland’s turn.

The Trelawney Stud-bred marvel did it again in the A$500,000 Gr.2 TAB A.D. Hollindale Stakes (1800m) at the Gold Coast, adding a 13^th win to a 47-start career that will continue to be talked about long after she retires.

Pride Of Jenni has made a habit of opening up jaw-dropping leads and never letting the chasers reel her in. Those tearaway tactics have carried her to four Group One triumphs, most famously a six-length blitz in the 2024 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) at Randwick after opening up a 30-length margin mid-race.

She treated the Gold Coast to something of a re-enactment of that performance on Saturday as regular rider Declan Bates allowed her to stride clear by 16 lengths through the middle stages of the race.

Pride Of Jenni’s petrol tank was empty in the straight, but she kept fighting. With the Gold Coast crowd cheering her every step of the way, she held out the late-closing Birdman (Free Eagle) by three-quarters of a length.

“I really just work with her,” Bates said. “It’s all about her terms, especially when she’s really loving it and nice and on song. And I knew very early today that we were in business.

“It’s probably the first time I’ve felt it that strongly since the Queen Elizabeth, but at the same time I’ve just got to manage her.”

Trainer Ciaron Maher was delighted to see the eight-year-old at the peak of her powers again.

“She’s just a marvel,” he said. “Have a look at her, she is just a beautiful mare, and she's got a great constitution.

“You’d think a track like the Gold Coast would suit her style, and it certainly did.

“Coming into this, I was mindful that she’s had three very tough runs, and you don’t want to over-train her. We’ve just kept her fresh. You know pretty quickly in her races whether she’s on, and when she stepped well, I thought, ‘Oh, we might be on today.’

“She was sprinting flat out from the 1000m. She’s used to doing that, being off the bridle a long way out, but it was a super ride from Dec.”

Pride Of Jenni has now had 47 starts for 13 wins, 14 placings and A$12.3 million in prize-money.

She was bred by Trelawney Stud and is out of the O’Reilly mare Sancerre (NZ), who was prepared by Cambridge trainer Tony Pike to win on four occasions for the stud. The star mare stems from a family fashioned over generations at the famed Kiwi nursery, which has been in the Taylor family’s ownership since 1993, having been established by Seton Otway in the 1930s.

Group Two winner Real Success, the taproot of star Trelawney Stud graduates Vouvray (NZ) (Zabeel), Loire (NZ) (Redoute's Choice), A Touch Of Ruby (NZ) (Pins) and Pride Of Jenni and many others around them, was one of the first families the Taylors bought into upon taking ownership of Trelawney.

Pride Of Jenni was sold at the Sydney Classic Sale for A$100,000 through the Segenhoe Stud draft, where she was purchased by Tony and Lynn Ottobre’s Cape Schanck Stud.- NZ Racing Desk

Fringes to the fore in Fillies’ Classic

A move across the Tasman has reaped rewards for New Zealand filly Fringes (NZ) (Niagara), who impressively won the A$170,000 Gr.3 Ken and Helen Smith SA Fillies’ Classic (2546m) at Morphettville on Saturday.

Bred and raced by renowned New Zealand racing photographer Trish Dunell, Fringes began her career in the Levin stable of Ilone Kelly and won on debut at Otaki on Boxing Day. She was unplaced in her two subsequent New Zealand starts, including a ninth in the Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m).

Dunell moved Fringes into the South Australian stable of Michael Hickmott at the beginning of March, and her first two Australian starts produced a ninth over 1400m and a 12^th in the Listed Clare Lindop Stakes (1600m).

Hickmott dropped Fringes back in class for a confidence-boosting win over 2200m at Balaklava on April 15, then raised the bar again for a shot at Saturday’s Group Three.

Fringes was ridden by Ben Melham and took up a handy position in third behind the front-running Cushioned (Ghaiyyath).

Just when Fringes was beginning to build her momentum coming into the home straight, she was stopped in her tracks and Melham had to check her off heels.

Melham found clear air and asked Fringes to accelerate again, and she delivered. She burst through in between Certainly Quiet (Dundeel) and Panda’s Spectrum (Fiorente) for a narrow but authoritative win.

“It wasn’t pretty, but we got the job done,” Melham said. “It was a really good, tough effort by the filly.

“She’s obviously only lightly raced and still feels quite raw to ride, but a good staying talent.

“We just had to bide our time there, and then she had to let rip off a standstill, so it adds merit to her win. Good, tough performance by a filly that’s still on the way up.”

Fringes’ performance made a big impression on the Hickmott stable.

“It's always hard to get really confident and bullish about horses that are on the rise like her and are still very much untested,” said Hickmott’s nephew and bloodstock manager, Josh Hickmott. “That's a terrific performance, that was super tenacious today. Like I said previously, she was always going to be the horse that stays. She's shown that right the way through.

“I just can’t emphasise enough how much we appreciate the support of her owner Trish Dunell and her family. Trish hasn't had the best of luck these last few years, I'm sure she's cheering this at home in New Zealand and it’s going to put a big smile on her face.

“She’s supported the sire for a very long time, Niagara. We've been the benefactors of a stallion that's so underrated, and I've really sung his praises for a long time. He just produces tough horses, and for the Dunells and their family, it's a huge, huge thrill. It's hard to put into words how proud I am of this girl.

“And Michael's just done so well, training this horse to a tee. Obviously, a bit of an unconventional path, heading through Balaklava. But Michael knew that she'd stay, and this race was always circled on the calendar, forgoing the Oaks and the temptation of a Group One, and it paid dividends today.

“I won’t put words in his mouth, but I'll say it, I think this is his best training performance. She hasn't been the soundest of horses right the way through. We've got to thank Dr. Brodie Webster, who's helped us manage and maintain her. Michael just knew what he had right the way through.”

Now the winner of three of her seven starts and A$122,665 in prize-money, Fringes is by Niagara, who stands for a $2,500 service fee at Hau Ora Farm in Hawke’s Bay and is now the sire of nine Group or Listed winners.

The dam of Fringes is the Golan mare Miss Jaydeejay (NZ), who is a full-sister to the Gr.1 Victoria Derby (2500m) winner Kibbutz (NZ).

Dunell paid $24,000 to buy Miss Jaydeejay from the 2014 NZB Winter Mixed Bloodstock Sale at Karaka, where she was offered by the Westend Partnership. - NZ Racing Desk

Nightline puts Oaks rivals on notice

Tony and Maddysen Sears are counting down the days to the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m) after a highly impressive audition at the Gold Coast on Saturday by their New Zealand-bred filly Nightline (NZ) (Redwood).

The father-daughter training partnership teamed up with Paul Moroney Bloodstock and Catheryne Bruggeman to buy Nightline for $75,000 from Book 2 of the 2024 NZB National Yearling Sale at Karaka, where she was offered by Westbury Stud.

The Redwood filly has already earned A$294,100 in stakes from an eight-race career that has netted four wins and two placings, including a first black-type success in Saturday’s A$160,000 Listed Moet & Chandon Gold Coast Bracelet (1800m).

The Sears stable began plotting an Oaks campaign after Nightline won three of her five starts between November and January, culminating in the A$160,000 Eagle Way (2100m) at Eagle Farm on January 3.

Nightline resumed with a promising third in the Listed Princess Stakes (1600m) on April 25, then relished the extra distance and drier track conditions second-up in Saturday’s Bracelet.

Ridden by the formerly Kiwi-based jockey Mark Du Plessis, Nightline settled a long way back in ninth as the well-supported pair Spicy Lu (Tagaloa) and Single Red (NZ) (Vanburgh) showed the way out in front.

Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) placegetter Single Red kicked away from Spicy Lu at the top of the straight in what looked like a winning move, but then Du Plessis guided Nightline through a narrow gap and let her rip down the outside.

Nightline charged up alongside Single Red and finished over the top of her in the last 50m to win by just under a length.

“There was a bit of a wall of horses and the filly had to push her way out,” Maddysen Sears said. “She is very, very good, and I just knew she had the turn of foot to win. Mark rode her perfectly, he didn’t panic.

“Dad and I know how good she is. The turn of foot wasn’t there in Brisbane the other day in the wet, and I think that’s what cost her.”

Sears’ father and training partner Tony is increasingly confident that Nightline might be the filly to beat in the Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm on June 6, for which the TAB now rates her a $6 second favourite behind Panova (Trapeze Artist) ($5).

“I’ve got a good friend here in Lee Freedman, I think he’s a genius trainer, and he’s been telling me for weeks that she’ll win the Oaks,” Tony Sears said. “So when someone like Lee tells you that, you’re full of confidence. This horse is very, very special. You know she’s got gears that probably a lot of horses haven’t got.”

Nightline was bred by Westbury Stud owner Gerry Harvey and is by Redwood out of the El Roca mare Decimal (NZ), who is a half-sister to the dual Group Two winner and Group One-placed Fontelina (NZ) (Pins). Nightline is Decimal’s first foal.

Nightline is the 18^th individual stakes winner for Redwood, who stands at Westbury for a $10,000 service fee. Victory in the Queensland Oaks would make Nightline his fourth Group One winner, following on from Sharp ‘N’ Smart, Antino and Rock On Wood.- NZ Racing Desk

Gosford Gold Cup completes black-type double for Asterix

Former Gr.1 New Zealand Derby (2400m) winner Asterix (NZ) (Tavistock) took 11 races and more than a year to record his first stakes victory in Australia, but now he has gone back-to-back.

The seven-year-old added a supreme weight-carrying performance in Saturday’s A$300,000 Listed Guardian Safety Solutions Gosford Gold Cup (2100m) to his last-start success in the Gr.3 JRA Plate (2000m) at Randwick on April 18.

Asterix was lumbered with 61 kilograms on Saturday against a highly competitive Gosford Gold Cup line-up. Since weights went metric in 1972, the previous highest weight carried to victory in the Gosford Gold Cup was 59.5 kilograms by Numerian (Holy Roman Emperor) in 2022.

But Asterix was unfazed by that record-breaking task, launching an irresistible finish from second-last under expat New Zealand jockey Jason Collett.

The field bunched right up around the home turn and Asterix was held up in traffic, but Collett managed to find a way through and then unleashed him down the outside.

Asterix and Zaphod (Zarak) swallowed up the leader You Wahng (So You Think) together in the final 100m, and Asterix finished the better to win by a length.

“He’s flying,” Collett said. “I was fortunate that the tempo was great early in the race.

“He started to get into a nice rhythm down the side and we worked together from there. I got some lucky breaks, but I had the horse to do it.”

Asterix’s trainer Chris Waller was represented at Gosford on Saturday by Zane Jones, who said the New Zealand import has come into a rich vein of form after finding his feet in his new surroundings.

“He's a happy horse and is going better than ever,” Jones said. “He has strung back-to-back wins together. He is extremely underrated, but as long as he is winning, we don't mind.

“You would have to say a trip to Queensland beckons after that, his effort was full of merit.”

From a 26-start career, Asterix has now recorded seven wins and two placings and has earned A$1.27 million in stakes.

Asterix was bred by Sir Owen Glenn's Go Bloodstock and is by Tavistock out of the Shirocco mare Mourasana.

Curraghmore offered Asterix at the 2020 NZB Ready to Run Sale at Karaka, where Bruce Perry Bloodstock bought him for $450,000.

Asterix began his career in the Matamata stable of Lance O'Sullivan and Andrew Scott, for whom he won four of his 14 starts including the 2022 New Zealand Derby and the 2024 edition of the Gr.2 Avondale Cup (2400m). - NZ Racing Desk

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