Redzel sparks up carnival
THE dual Everest-winning $15.5 million earner Redzel gives the Queensland winter carnival some sparkle as he arrives a fortnight earlier this year to contest the Group 2 Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm tomorrow.
Redzel returns for a third tilt at the carnival, which makes him a rare beast among the impressive list of horses who made their name in Queensland and went on to greater honours.
Queensland has become known as the launching pad to future stardom, where promising horses blossom into next season’s stars.
Redzel sits with Winx and The Autumn Sun as the most prominent graduates of the carnival in recent years, for it was here they all attained their Group 1-winning status.
There’s a host of others that have given the winter carnival its reputation as a perfect target for up and comers.
The flip side is that the Queensland carnival rarely attracts the proven stars like it once used to.
The appeal of international targets and monster pools of prizemoney either side of the winter have robbed Queensland of horses that would otherwise have been automatic starters here a generation or two ago.
Redzel, trained in Sydney by Peter and Paul Snowden, is the highest-profile runner to enter the Queensland carnival since Black Caviar’s 2011 cameo.
So it’s a rare treat to have him back, especially so early in the carnival.
Chris Ward, from Triple Crown syndications, said Redzel had given his team of 17 owners and those closest to them the ride of a lifetime.
“Financially it’s obviously been very rewarding for these owners and something I don’t think any of them would have dreamt of, but from the experience side of things, it’s just an unbelievable ride they are sharing with their families,”
Ward said.
“You can’t replicate the life experience they have had.
“The ownership probably looks more like 50 on race day but the more the merrier we say. It’s great for racehorse ownership.”
Redzel’s form looks a rung below what it has been leading into his past two winters – he finished sixth behind Santa Ana Lane in the Group 1 TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick at his latest start on April 6.
But Ward says the stable believe he is going “super” and it’s just taking him longer to hit his peak now.
“We were talking with the Snowdens post-race after the T.J. and Pete said it was getting harder to get him fitter now he’s an older horse,” he said.
“He just felt he needed an extra run. He has come on fitness-wise since that last turn.
“Physically he’s looking a lot better.”
Team Redzel would love to go back and try for a third consecutive Everest in the spring.
“You can’t say The Everest was a long-held dream because it was a new event but the build-up and the way it’s put on has been exceptional and it has been a dream ride for us,” Ward said.