The opening day of The Championships 2021 delivered in style with a couple of the most dominant Group 1 wins you will see at Randwick.
The victories by Anamoe in the ATC Sires Produce Stakes and Nature Strip in the TJ Smith Stakes won’t be forgotten in a hurry while not surprisngly Jamie Kah announced herself in Sydney.
Victoria’s leading jockey guided the enigmatic Cascadian to a memorable win in the $3 million Doncaster Mile.
Another Victorian-based rider, John Allen is fast becoming the go-to jockey for a Derby – claiming a maiden Australian Derby success aboard Explosive Jack.
The Randwick track started the day rated a soft (7) improving throughout the day before being upgraded to a soft (6) following the ATC Sires Produce Stakes.
A Kiwi-bred three-year-old claimed the Group 1 Randwick Guineas but it wasn’t the one most punters’ wanted at Randwick on Saturday.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman-trained Aegon was sent out a firm $2.60 favourite in the feature event but it was John O’Shea’s galloper Lion’s Roar which took the major share of the $1 million purse while the other Group 1 race of the day – the Canterbury Stakes went to Godolphin mare Savatiano.
The Golden Slipper is a fortnight away but the picture remains cloudy after the standing favourites Profiteer and Stay Inside were rolled by the James Cummings-trained Anamoe in the Todman Stakes, while Glistening gave Richard and Michael Freedman their second Slipper runner taking out the Reisling Stakes.
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Socrates was set on a Derby path virtually from the day he was foaled.
Bred by living legend Sir Patrick Hogan, Socrates is by Tavistock whose offspring include the Derby winners Tavago, Tarzino and Werther as well as the latter’s Oaks winning sister Toffee Tongue.
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Socrates can earn a shot at the Rosehill Guineas by winning at Kembla on Tuesday. Picture: Grant Guy
On top of that, Socrates is a direct descendant of Hogan’s celebrated Cambridge Stud broodmare My Tricia, the grandam of Mahaya and the great grandam of Lonhro.