Gai Waterhouse | Gai Waterhouse News 54259 The Winning Combination Of Waterhouse And Bott Strike Again

Soldier Of Rome (Snitzel) provided yet another juvenile winner for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, after the colt overcame some immaturity in-running on his debut to score with a late thrust. Losing ground up the rail, he was hanging into his competitors and looked soundly beaten with 200 metres to run, however he was corrected by Tim Clark and flew home late to score by 0.74l from the fancied Capital Heart (Capitalist).

 

His victory not only marked him out as yet another smart juvenile for his trainers, in what's been a highly productive season for them, but it's also a shared run of form for co-owners Go Bloodstock, in whose colours the colt runs.

“It was a very tough effort from the horse to really pick himself up from that position, not easy for an inexperienced horse,” co-trainer Adrian Bott said. “I certainly expect a lot of improvement off today’s (run), he was a little bit raw at various stages in that race.

“I felt that he might have been vulnerable over the 1000 metres today. He really looks like he’s got the scope to be a lovely horse over 1400 metres and potentially a bit further in time.”

Tim Clark, who had partnered the colt in his most recent (winning) trial, added: “He was down and out there at the furlong pole, a bit similar to… the trial - once he had a bit of competition around him he really was in for the fight.

“I think he’s going to be a really serious colt when he gets over the 1400 (metres) and up to a mile.”

Even by their own standards amongst the country’s foremost juvenile handlers, Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott are enjoying a purple patch with their 2-year-olds. Since partnering, they have struck at 18.3 per cent with their youngsters, but so far this season they’re running at a win rate of 29.1 per cent.

A purple patch

An $850,000 purchase by his trainers in conjunction with Kestrel Thoroughbreds from last year’s Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, they’ll be pleased that Soldier Of Rome continued the run on Wednesday. Bred by Corumbene Stud, he is out of Group 2 winner Bennetta (General Nediym) and is a brother to the five-time winner and G3 Carbine Club S.-placed Bottega.

His victory on Wednesday came exactly a week after the yellow colours of Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock were carried to victory by another juvenile from Tulloch Lodge, when 2-year-old filly Amazonian Lass (Better Than Ready {USA}) scored at Warwick Farm.

 

“It’s been fantastic, we’ve had a great run,” Go Bloodstock’s director Steve O’Connor told TDN AusNZ. “That was a homebred, this one’s a bit different in that he’s a colt we purchased last year with our partners Tony Fung Investments and Kia Ora.

“It’s great for Sir Owen, he was here at the weekend to see Thalassophile win, Red Resistance run second and Artorius win - we’ve been blessed with the horses that we’ve seen running of late.”

Picking up on the 2-year-old Red Resistance (Russian Revolution), who was a gallant runner-up to Cylinder (Exceed And Excel) in last Saturday’s G2 Todman S. and is currently third-favourite for the G1 Golden Slipper S., O’Connor noted that all the evidence points to the unique juvenile-handling prowess of the Waterhouse/Bott combination.

“I think it’s working really well with Gai and Adrian,” O’Connor explained. “Gai has years and years of experience in training top 2-year-olds. From learning off her father and doing it herself, she knows how to make the right decisions, when to put the pressure on and when to not.

“Adrian’s very calculated and smart in how he places the 2-year-olds and how he sees when they’re ready to take the next step forward - I think it works beautifully.

“We supported Gai and Adrian’s stable quite heavily last year with a mixture of homebreds, horses we purchased and horses owned in partnership, and they’ve done an absolutely amazing job with them.

“If you want to have a good 2-year-old and get to the Golden Slipper they’re the right people to achieve that goal, and we couldn’t be happier with what they’ve done for us.”

Stepping up

Whilst Soldier Of Rome might not be a candidate for the Golden Slipper, O’Connor was keen to impress the high opinion connections hold of the colt, pointing to the unsuitable distance of his debut win as a mark of the horse’s raw talent.

“He’s a horse that we think will get out over a longer distance, but he’s shown great ability and good grit and toughness today (Wednesday). We think he’s a top, top horse in the making and we’ve very high hopes for him.

“So, it was a surprise in how he won today, but it wasn’t a surprise that he won.

“We’ll sit down to discuss what’s next. The only thing I can say at this stage is that we’ll definitely run him over further on his next race. Whether that’s 1200 metres or 1400 metres we’re not sure - we’ll let Gai and Adrian make that decision.”

And, as their recent record exemplifies, there’s no better team qualified…

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