Capitalist was in hot form on Saturday at Eagle Farm with a stakes double for Comrade Rosa and King Kapa.
Comrade Rosa showed her love for the Eagle Farm track when earning a second consecutive stakes win in the $300,000 Group II Magic Millions Dane Ripper Stakes (1300m).
Ridden by Ryan Maloney, Comrade Rosa was the third winner on the day for Tony Gollan. A last-start winner of the Listed Helen Coughlan Stakes, the 4yo daughter of Capitalist defeated race favourite Opal Ridge by a half-neck.
“She’s racing so well. She used to want to dawdle out of the barriers, but today she began beautifully,” Gollan said.
“She was able to hold the position on a very tardy speed, so that was basically the winning move.
“A good draw, in the right spot, and she did the rest.
“This carnival was coming up quite quickly with her, and I just wasn’t sure where she sat.
“That’s probably the strongest Dane Ripper that I’ve had runners in. I didn’t know whether we were going to be at this level yet. I thought in the summer she would be really well placed here, but she’s going to blow that summer rating away now.
“So onwards and upwards to the Tatts Tiara (G1). I’m so happy with this horse.”
A $100,000 Inglis Easter purchase for Peachester Lodge from the Kitchwin Hills draft, Comrade Rosa has six wins and five placings from 18 starts with prizemoney in excess of $462,000.
Comrade Rosa was bred by Kitchwin Hills and is the best of four winners from stakes-winning Redoute’s Choice mare No Looking Back, whose dam Mirror Mirror won the Magic Millions 2YO Classic, a race that was famously taken from No Looking Back on protest.
Earlier in the day the Tony Gollan trained Capitalist gelding King Kapa won the Listed BRC Hinkler Handicap (1200m) scoring by three-quarters of a length to take his first Black Type win.
King Kapa has been a revelation since transferring to Gollan from Joe Pride, winning five of his seven starts for his new stable.
“He’s been a fantastic acquisition to our stable. I want to thank the team at Strong Bloodstock for sending him up to us,” Gollan said.
“He’d been going through his grades and returned with an eye to this carnival. Things didn’t work out too well his first start back when the draw sort of pulled him up and he didn’t know what was going on.
“Then back to the trials, a really good run the other day in stakes grade at Doomben, so we came here confident. It was a good field, but he put them away and did a great job.
“I didn’t think he’d be able to lead and win this race. There looked a lot of pressure on paper, but Ben held his nerve and held that rail.
“There were plenty of horses with him the whole way, and I suggest that once I put him away and bring him back for the summer carnival, he will be a sprint star this year.
“When he came to us, he didn’t look like he does now. He’s really strengthening up, and I can’t thank the team enough. He will be good for the team and the stable for the next few years.”
A $50,000 purchase for Sterling Bloodstock from the Newgate Farm draft at the 2020 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, King Kapa advances his record to six wins, two seconds, and two thirds from 17 starts with earnings of $304,225.
Bred by Belinda Bateman, King Kapa is a half-brother to stakes-placed Churning and is the best of three winners from as many to race out of the stakes-winning Jet Spur mare Emmalene.
King Kapa is the 14th stakes-winner for Capitalist and is his eighth this season.
