$1.2m high: Chosen One hoping to go out as the chosen one
One of the few genuine transtasman stars of New Zealand racing is looking to bow out on a A$1.2 million high in Brisbane today but some new Kiwi group race heroes are hoping to emerge at the same meeting.
New Zealand racing has rarely seen a 12-month period in which its elite ranks have been so decimated, with at least 12 Group 1 winners retiring. The Chosen One is the next after he runs in today’s Q22 at Eagle Farm.
He will join the likes of Melody Belle, Avantage, Probabeel, Sword Of State, Noverre and Savy Yong Blonk as Group 1 winners to have left the racing scene in the past year.
The Chosen One will join them tomorrow, off to Highview Stud, where he has been priced an a fair stud fee of $4000 for a son of Savabeel from one of New Zealand’s great families.
Before he leaves racing, trainer Andrew Forsman thinks The Chosen One can at least place in Queensland’s newest A$1m-plus race in which his opposition includes fellow Kiwi Group 1 winner Coventina Bay.
The Chosen One was the better of the two when a close-up fifth, a head from Zaaki in third, in the Doomben Cup two weeks ago, and Forsman says the Caulfield, Melbourne and Sydney Cups placegetter has trained on well since.
“We couldn’t be happier and his work this week suggests he can get some of it but I’d prefer he wasn’t drawn so wide,” says Forsman.
“I’d love to see him go out on a high. I think some people don’t realise how hard it is to do what he has done — race in so many of these really tough Group 1s in Australia — so we are very proud of him.”
The Chosen One and Coventina Bay could struggle to beat the latest European import cashing in big in Australia in Huetor, although he and Maximal, who was impressive when second in the Doomben Cup, have drawn wide today.
Trainer Robbie Patterson is still a believer in Coventina Bay’s chances today, even after two unplaced runs at this level this winter, and has the welcome news the two-time Group 1winning mare will race on next season, probably exclusively in New Zealand, with all domestic Group 1s to increase to a minimum of $300,000.
But as much as Patterson is looking forward to his stable star at Group 1 level today, he is even keener on The Fearless One in the A$400,000 Brisbane Cup.
“He has to be a great chance,” says the Taranaki trainer. “He will relax and get the 3200m, which I think plenty of these horses won’t, and he is getting better every start.
“What he has done has been remarkable because he started this preparation a maiden and is now one of the favourites for the Brisbane Cup.”
And it is anything but a vintage Brisbane Cup, so The Fearless One has a shot at New Zealand’s third major win at Eagle Farm in the past month.
So, too, does the other emerging Group 1 player for New Zealand today in juvenile Sharp ’N’ Smart, who has risen from obscurity two months ago to be favourite for today’s A$1m JJ Atkins.
Trained by Graeme and Debbie Rogerson, the gelding was a huge and slightly luckless second to key rival Political Debate in the lead-up race last Saturday and looks ideally suited to the step up to 1600m.
With just three starts under his belt, it is hard to judge just how good Sharp ’N’ Smart might be, but a win today would put him in rarified air, with only a handful of Kiwi juveniles having won Group 1s in Australia.