Trainer Gerald Ryan’s confidence in Girl Sunday at Rosehill was justified as the game mare scored her second photo finish win on end. Girl Sunday resumed with a narrow Melbourne Cup win at Randwick and heading in Saturday’s Rosehill win, Gerald Ryan was very confident she had improved with her first up race. “I was very happy with her going into the Rosehill event and felt she improved as a result of her Randwick race. Her work leading in Rosehill was good, and on the Tuesday she worked very well on the grass and was the only gallop that I clocked all morning to break 24 for the last 400 metres,” said Gerald. His judgement proved perfect as Girl Sunday went to the lead on barrier rise and was never headed, holding out the well performed Dixie Chick by a short half head. Girl Sunday was well rated by Ryan’s apprentice Jamie Innes Junior after being victorious for fellow apprentice Andrew Adkins at Randwick. “I don’t like replacing jockeys but Jamie had ridden the mare in her trials and track work leading into the Melbourne Cup race but incurred a suspension and that was the reason he did not ride her that day.” Bought at the Inglis Premier Sale by Ontrack Thoroughbred’s Grant Morgan for $100,000, Girl Sunday is building an imposing record as from only 9 starts she has had four wins, a second and two fourth placings. “She is shaping up nicely and Gerald was confident during her first preparation that she would measure up to Saturday city company so it’s great for the owners that his judgement has proved to be on the mark,” said Grant Morgan. “Girl Sunday is a lovely big mare but she does have a turn of foot and her time for the 1400 metres at Rosehill was a slick 1.22.87 which was significantly faster that two other races over that distance on the day. She ran her last 600 in 33.93 and the fastest final 600 of the day was 33.31 which was recorded in an 1100 metre races so her times illustrate how well she is going.” Congratulations to our owners Lang Brothers Racing No 3 Synd (Mgrs Stu & Matt Lang), Pam Bayles, Lucky Nine Racing (Mgr Brett Grogan), Ricky Kim, Keating Racing (Mgr Shane & Matthew Keating), Ken Stocks, Michael Walton & Paul Crisp Talented mare Cruising Speed made a stunning return to racing with a decisive win at Eagle Farm. Fresh up after a three month break, Cruising Speed took her career record to four wins from only seven races when she won the Moet and Chandon Club Handicap in the hands of James Orman. The win continued Ontrack Thoroughbred’s great run of success as Girl Sunday saluted for the all gold colours on Melbourne Cup Day and then Savanna Amour returned with a comprehensive win at Doomben last weekend. “It’s very satisfying to win races anywhere but we aim to buy city horses, so to win successive races at Randwick, Doomben and Eagle Farm is what we strive to do. “it was a good win today and Ontrack would like to congratulate John and Chris Meagher on a great training effort to have her ready to win at 1300 metres first up. The stable is flying and it vindicates the faith we have placed in the stable. “Cruising Speed is a lovely mare and I have always wanted to buy a nice Savabeel horse and what appealed to me was that she is out of an O’Reilly mare and that cross has an unbelievable strike rate when it comes to winning stakes and listed races. “This mare can go to that stakes level and that’s where we plan to head with her. She is very progressive and has a pretty fair turn of foot for a Savabeel which can probably be attributed to her third dam being the brilliant racemare Emancipation.” John Meagher believes Cruising Speed has untapped potential and is confident she will handle a step up in distance. “She’s a lovely mare and we have no doubt that she is going to get at least 1600 metres and feel that there is a good race in her. “She won two races very impressively and then failed on the Eagle Farm track and the only possible explanation for that miss was getting caught down on the inner. Today with the rail out so far we were confident she would be very hard to beat. “She had a short break after that failure and has come back a better mare so it’s onwards and upwards. “We are so grateful to have these nice Ontrack horses and there is no doubt that Grant has a great eye when it comes to picking out a young horses. There’s an art to that and it’s great to have such nice horses to work with and owners who are prepared to be patient,” said John Meagher who enjoyed a winning Doomben double along with sons Chris and Paul. Congratulations to Cruising Speed’s owners Judy Coleman, Stephen Hurford, Lynne Smith, Ken Gordon, Rose Rovelli, Karl Vanderberg, The Let It Ride Syndicate, Jenny Pixley, Marilyn Searles, Bernie Warnick, Woongarra, Judy Bandidt, Dom Bassi, Professor Jim Dale, Brett Grogan, Gordon Henry and Haimes Racing. Striking filly Savanna Amour made a stunning start to her second season when scoring a highly impressive Doomben win. Savanna Amour was lightly tried at two and was placed at the Sunshine Coast and Eagle Farm in June before breaking her maiden with an emphatic 4.3 length win back at the Sunshine Coast in July. Trainers John and Chris Meagher sent the filly to spell following that win and she resumed in the Zouki Group QTIS Handicap for three-year-olds at Doomben on the strength of two nice jumpouts. Ontrack CEO Grant Morgan was impressed with the winning return and announced intentions to lift the bar with Savanna Amour. “We have always had a very good opinion of this filly and we have targeted the $100,000 Mode Plate at Eagle Farm because it is a listed race restricted to three-year-old fillies and we are always keen to secure black type status for our fillies and mares. “Savanna Amour has always shown plenty of ability but we elected to give her plenty of time before racing her. She is a filly that needed to develop mentally and the patient approach shown by the Meaghers is now bearing fruit because she makes significant progress each time she races.” A $100,000 purchase at the 2015 Inglis Classic Sale, Savanna Amour is from the five time winning Stravinsky mare Savanna La Mer and was a standout filly, according to Grant Morgan. “She was a stunning yearling and really sold herself. I shortlist yearlings on type and then check the pedigree and thankfully her page was strong and so I was pretty set on taking her home.” Trainer John Meagher started his training career in Melbourne and he is likely to return to his home state next year provided Savanna Amour continues to make the progress expected of her. “She’s a very, very promising filly and if we look after her this spring there are a host of great races for fillies in Melbourne in the late summer and autumn and I have no doubt this filly will be good enough to prove very competitive in them. “She’s a great filly to do anything with and I’m just grateful that Grant bought her and has allowed us to go along quietly with her because that patient approach has been the key to getting her to race so well,” said John. Adding merit to Savanna Amour’s win was the time of 1.03.10 for the 1100 metres which smashed Skating on Ice’s class record of 1.03.33 set in 2011 and came close to the course record of 1.02.95 set by the flying sprinter Star of Florida in 2002. Congratulations to the winning connections of Savanna Amour: Dennis Bates, Laraine Blades, FRF Racing (David Fitzpatrick), Haimes Racing, Rob Harvey, Rob Hill, Paul Kitching, Bill Knobel, Phil and Anne Leonard, Danny Lesjak, Paul McGavin, Dave Moretti, Barry Muller, Mark Ostermeyer, Darren Smeath, Dennis and Colleen Walker, Dale Watts and Peter Hanan. Girl Sunday’s thrilling Melbourne Cup Day win at Randwick continued Ontrack Thoroughbred’s enviable record of winning races on the day that stops a nation. Trainer Gerald Ryan produced a training masterclass when he produced Girl Sunday to win over 1300 metres off a spell of nearly six months to take her record to three wins and three placings from only eight starts. For Ontrack’s CEO Grant Morgan winning a race on Melbourne Cup Day is something to treasure. “Faster Son won at debut on the Gold Coast a few seasons back and Invincible Heart won a $100,000 race at Flemington on Cup Day last year, so it was a great thrill to snare another win at Randwick this year. “Melbourne Cup Day really is unrivalled as the most important day’s racing in Australia and it’s great for the connections of any horse to win on such a big day.” Grant Morgan bought Girl Sunday out of the 2014 Inglis Premier Sale and she was one of two yearlings by Encosta de Lago he purchased out of that sale. “The other yearling raced as Asera and was a winner in Victoria from Mick Price’s stable before being purchased to race in Singapore. I’ve always been a great fan of Encosta de Lago and I think his legacy will continue for many years to come as his daughters star as broodmares. “Girl Sunday is out of a Cape Cross mare so we always expected she would make considerable progress from her three-year-old year and it looks like she has come back in great order for her four-year-old season. “The plan is to try and work her through to some black type races and one option could be to pick out some lower tier races in Queensland to earn her listed and black type ranking which is very important with these well-bred mares.” Grant Morgan praised both trainer Gerald Ryan and apprentice Andrew Adkins for Girl Sunday's win. “It really was a case of the master and the apprentice wasn’t it? Gerald has trained for Ontrack for many years and he produced Girl Sunday in fantastic order for a first-up win over 1300 metres and that is not an easy thing to do. Gerald has long been one of Sydney’s best trainers and he revealed all his skills by having our mare ready to perform over what is often a tricky distance for fresh horses. “He also pulled the right rein in using Andrew’s two kilo claim and this possible made the difference between winning and losing. “Andrew rode the mare extremely well and showed maturity when he elected to press forward with Girl Sunday when another jockey pushed off the fence and threatened to post our mare three wide.” Congratulations to the winning connections of Girl Sunday: Lang Brothers Racing (Stuart and Matthew Lang), Pam and Amanda Bayles, Lucky Nine Racing Brett and Damien Grogan, Ricky Kim, Tony, Matthew and Shane Keating, Ken Stocks, Michael Walton, Paul Crisp. |
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