Rothfire looking golden for Rose
Gelding $2 favourite
GUN Queensland three-yearold Rothfire is poised to become the hottest favourite to win the Group 1 $1m Golden Rose (1400m) at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Trainer Robert Heathcote’s brilliant gelding dominates betting at $2 despite drawing gate eight in the nine-horse field.
But Rothfire’s Golden Rose chances were enhanced when trainer Chris Waller announced early on Tuesday morning that he would not be accepting with his boom unbeaten colt Mo’Unga.
“After much discussion we’ve decided to prepare Mo’Unga for the Caulfield Guineas and therefore he will not run in either the Gloaming Stakes or the Golden Rose,” Waller said via social media.
“I am incredibly proud to have two runners for Aquis Farm in the Golden Rose this weekend – Global Quest and Sauvestre.”
Rothfire is a deserved Golden Rose favourite after his outstanding win in the Run To The Rose at Rosehill earlier this month.
If he can maintain his winning momentum in Saturday’s three-year-old classic, he is set to be the shortest favourite to win the race since its inception in 2003.
Denman, the Golden Rose winner in 2009, holds that record, winning at $2.40, while Bivouac was successful at $2.50 last year.
Heathcote said he couldn’t fault Rothfire’s progress since his debut Sydney win.
“The experts, and I always call the bookies the experts be
cause they are the ones who put the money up and if they get it wrong it costs them plenty, rate my horse as $2 favourite, so they consider you to be a very, very good chance,’’ Heathcote said.
“I would think coming out of the Run To The Rose the likes of Mamaragan, Ole Kirk, North Pacific and King’s Legacy will all be suited better going to the 1400m.
“But so too will Rothfire. He has proven himself second-up over 1400m with a devastating win in the JJ Atkins so I am looking forward to it, that’s for sure.”
The Team Hawkes-trained duo of North Pacific ($5) and Ole Kirk ($8) are next in Golden Rose betting after they ran the placings behind Rothfire last start.
With Mo’Unga’s defection from the Golden Rose, he was immediately installed as the $4.50 favourite for the Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 10.
Mo’Unga has been the longtime favourite for the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on the same day as the Caulfield Guineas but another unbeaten threeyear-old, Richard and Michael Freedman-trained Love Tap, is the new $3.50 favourite for the Sydney classic.