Newgate Farm had plenty to celebrate following the running of the first juvenile stakes races of the season in Sydney on Saturday at Randwick as we share in the ownership of Empire of Japan and foaled, raised and sold Platinum Jubilee for Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock.
The Group III ATC Breeders’ Plate (1000m) has a history of showcasing a future topliner and Snitzel colt Empire of Japan looked a star in the making with his three length win over $1.2million Exceed and Excel colt Mach Ten.
Winning rider James McDonald was impressed with the Peter and Paul snowden trained colt.
“He’s a smart colt who takes everything in his stride,” McDonald said.
“I actually jumped him out at the official jump outs and he was a little hot that day, and the stable’s done a good job to put a lid on him and put him to the trials and he ran extremely well at the trials. I was happy he just wasn’t a jump and run two-year-old, which I am pleased about.”
Bred and offered for sale by Corumbene Stud at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Empire of Japan was a $680,000 purchase for China Horse Club/Newgate Bloodstock/Starlight.
A brother in blood to Group II ATC Run To The Rose winner Menari, Empire Of Japan is the third winner from four to race out of the smart stakes-winning General Nediym mare Ichihara, who comes from the family of Group I winners Tie the Knot and Whisked.
Champion trainer Gai Waterhouse had amazingly never won a Group III ATC Gimcrack Stakes (1000m), but that all changed when exciting Zoustar filly Platinum Jubilee zoomed home to beat race favourite Perfect Proposal (Russian Revolution) to give the Waterhouse Bott stable the quinella.
“She went around like she had already had five or six starts,” said Regan Bayliss.
“She got squeezed out od the barriers and ended up back off them, but she was travelling well through the ground.
“She wasn’t going good enough at the top of the straight to come right to the outside, so we weaved through them and the more we got into the race the more she got into it and she was dominant in the end.
“She’s the one of Gai and Adrian’s that came on in leaps and bounds since the trial and she’s going to be exciting in the future.”
A $600,000 Magic Millions purchase from the Newgate Farm draft for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott/Kestrel Thoroughbreds, Platinum Jubilee was bred by Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock and they retain a share in her ownership. She is a half-sister to Group III winner Queen of the Ball from stakes-winning Fastnet Rock mare Miss Debutante.
Miss Debutante was raced by Go Bloodstock and was bought as a yearling from the Kia Ora draft at Inglis Easter in 2015 for $430,000. She is from imported Group II winning More Than Ready mare More than Real (USA), whose dam and grand-dam are also stakes-winners.
Miss Debutante has started her stud career in the best way possible with her first two foals now stakes-winners and she has a yearling filly to follow by Written Tycoon and is due to foal to Flying Artie.
