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“But we’ve also got options with how relaxed he is to step him out further. He was good late then and as he’s progressed through his career, he’s kept that turn of foot, but if he can go to 1800, 2000, it’s another set of doors open.”
Sandpaper tough to break rough run
The Bjorn Baker stable will look for another target for Sandpaper after the six-year-old was tough late to hold off stablemate Thunderlips in the listed Carrington Stakes (1400m) and give Nash Rawiller a riding treble at Randwick on Saturday.
Sandpaper ($2.70 favourite) led the $200,000 feature and was strong to the line to beat Thunderlips by a long neck. It was the former Godolphin galloper’s first win in nine months and came after a sixth last start in the Buffering at Eagle Farm.
A $130,000 buy for Darby Racing from Godolphin, Sandpaper has won four times for connections, including the $250,000 Newcastle Stakes.
“He was fantastic,” Baker assistant trainer Luke Hilton said.
“He was really tough in Brisbane, he never got any peace and they were three-wide attacking him the whole way and I thought he held his own and boxed on really well.
“Bjorn just gave him that little bit of extra time between runs when he came back, and he looked fantastic in the yard, and his work during the week was super.
“Nash gets on with him really well, and he found plenty when he needed to.”
Rawiller earlier won with Promitto and Kingdom Undersiege.
Freedman’s young summer hopes
Michael Freedman was keeping his options open with Satin Summer after she became another contender in his bid for back-to-back Golden Slippers with victory on debut at Randwick.
The Written Tycoon-Satin Shoes filly, a $6 chance bred and owned by Belinda Bateman, led under Tommy Berry and kicked late for a one and a half-length win over favourite Zambales in the 1000m 2YO handicap.
Freedman, who won the Slipper last year with Marhoona, said Satin Summer’s path to the races was delayed by a temperature during her preparation, and he felt she would improve off the run. She was in from $101 to $26 for the Slipper in March.
“There would be a few options,” Freedman said of her next run.
“Coming back here for the Pierro Plate, or just keep her ticking over for one of the fillies lead-up races … or even going to Melbourne for the fillies Blue Diamond Prelude in two weeks.
“Obviously we’d be keen to try and get some black-type for her somewhere.”
Freedman already has Breeders Plate winner Incognito ($8) and Godolphin’s Outspan ($34), which won at Rosehill last week, in Slipper contention.
He said Incognito would return in the Canonbury Stakes next week at Rosehill, while Outspan would likely be back in the Pierro Plate on February 14 at Randwick.
Berry and Freedman made it a double in the fourth when Godolphin mare Cinsault ($2.60 favourite) was an easy winner. Berry was then stood down for the rest of the card due to illness.
Nash gives Dunn contender a push
Kingdom Undersiege stamped his credentials as a Country Championships contender with victory in his first Highway Handicap on Saturday at Randwick, giving jockey Nash Rawiller an early double.
The former Peter Snowden-trained I Am Invincible four-year-old ($4.20) raced behind favourite and leader Satin Stiletto in the 1200m class 3 Highway before Rawiller put him through a gap late to prevail by a neck. It was a fourth win in five starts since Kingdom Undersiege came to Dunn’s Murwillumbah stable. He was an $800,000 yearling buy picked up for $75,000 online in September 2024.
Rawiller said Kingdom Undersiege would “get 1400m for sure” off Saturday’s performance, putting him in the frame for the Country Championships series.
The effort gave Dunn back-to-back Highway wins after Considered’s success last week at Rosehill and Rawiller a race-to-race double. He took David Atkins-trained Promitto ($8) to victory in the Midway Handicap, breaking a 17-month drought for the former two-year-old group 2 winner.
New chapter for Gatsby’s
Trainer Joe Pride was optimistic about Gatsby’s winning again after the much-maligned four-year-old broke through at his second start for his stable, ending a run of outs since the listed Rosebud in August 2024.
The former Chris Waller-trained galloper was seventh on debut for Pride three weeks ago and improved on Saturday at Randwick, winning the 1200m benchmark 78 for colts and geldings by a length over Bundeena.
Pride believed there was a “decent amount of improvement” left in Gatsby’s, which won back on Saturday about half of what his new connections paid for him.
“We’ve got a carnival coming up here so it’s going to be a little bit tricky for him, but I think he’s a horse who hasn’t fulfilled his potential yet so we can get a few more hopefully,” Pride said.
“He was bought to potentially race up north, but they said they’d give him a go in Sydney first.
“You think he could win again on that, but it was the right race.”
