A decision early next week will confirm if Jon Snow will take his place in the Australian Derby next week after the Kiwi colt won the Group 2 $200,000 Power Distribution Australia Tulloch Stakes (2000m) in a canter at Rosehill today.
Jon Snow, above, scores an impressive win in the Tulloch Stakes at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
The Murray Baker and Andrew Forsman trained Jon Snow was having his first run since finishing third to Gingernuts in the Group 1 NZ$1m New Zealand Derby (2400m) at Ellerslie on March 4.
Gingernuts made the form look very strong with a dominant win in the Group 1 $600,000 Sky Racing Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill last week and the two New Zealand trained three years old could clash again in the Group 1 $2m BMW Australian Derby (2400m) at Randwick on day one of ‘The Championships’.
“It was nice to get the job done,” co-trainer Andrew Forsman said.
“We will talk to Damian (Lane) and see what he thinks and see how he comes though the next couple of days.”
“He ran the trip out strongly in the Derby and he has been running on hard tracks and the slowness in the ground really helped him today so all thing being equal he should back up.”
“(Will decide) Monday or Tuesday, we will have a talk to the owners, they all want a trip over here so hopefully he comes through it and we can have a crack at least.”
Winning jockey Damian Lane had Jon Snow ($2.70 favourite) quickly out of the outside barrier and took his time before crossing over to settle at the rump of the leader, My Kind ($61).
Lane kept a good hold of Jon Snow in the early part of the straight but when he released the reins, the Iffraaj colt strode to the line with his ears pricked to beat runner up Prized Icon ($4.80) by two and three quarter lengths with Captain Duffy ($15) battling away out wide for third.
Prized Icon was solid to the line without threatening the winner and is likely to back up as well in the Australian Derby next week.
2017 Tulloch Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | JON SNOW (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Damian Lane | – | 11 | 56kg | $2.70F |
| 2 | 1 | PRIZED ICON | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 2.8L | 8 | 56kg | $4.80 |
| 3 | 5 | CAPTAIN DUFFY | Bjorn Baker | Noel Callow | 5.8L | 5 | 56kg | $15 |
| 4 | 10 | GARBHAN | Mitch Newman | Hugh Bowman | 6L | 10 | 56kg | $16 |
| 5 | 9 | ROCK AND SWING | James Cummings | Brenton Avdulla | 6.3L | 7 | 56kg | $16 |
| 6 | 12 | HOLLYWOOD MO | Paul Perry | Ben Melham | 8.1L | 6 | 56kg | $8.50 |
| 7 | 11 | MY KIND | John P Thompson | Jason Collett | 15.7L | 3 | 56kg | $61 |
| 8 | 8 | RIGHTEOUS MATE (NZ) | Mark Newnham | Corey Brown | 22.3L | 9 | 56kg | $26 |
| 9 | 7 | WINE BUSH | Chris Waller | Damien Oliver | 27.1L | 4 | 56kg | $5.50 |
| 10 | 13 | NOBLE TRUTH | Anthony & Edward Cummings | Regan Bayliss | 32.9L | 1 | 56kg | $61 |
| 11 | 6 | HONEYWINE | John O’Shea | James Doyle | 38.2L | 2 | 56kg | $15 |
