Masterful ride by Adam Hyeronimus helps Stardom to victory in Woodlands Stakes at Scone
The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott -trained Stardom shared the early lead, broke clear around the turn and held off her chasing rivals to win the Listed $200,000 Woodlands Stakes (1100m).
Owner-breeder John Cornish, the former Australian Turf Club chairman, cheered Stardom home from the Scone media room.
'That was exciting,' Cornish said. 'Stardom's a promising filly and has kept improving with every run.
''It's been a while since we have had a good filly so this is a big thrill.
'I thought she might have been beaten a few times but she put her head down and kept fighting hard which is a good sign.'
Stardom ($3.60), ridden by Adam Hyeronimus, held off the late surge Wollzeile ($26) to win by a half length with favourite Akaysha ($2.40) coming from a long way back on the turn to finish a length away third.
Tulloch Lodge stable representative Neil Paine said Stardom is a talented filly with a big future.
'Wasn't that a top win and Adam rode her a treat,' Paine enthused.
'I reckon he could have led on her but restrained her to be in second position to the turn then the filly just refused to give in down the straight.
'At the 150m I thought the second horse was going to grab her but Adam kept her balanced and it was a terrific win.
'John Cornish has been a great supporter of Gai and Adrian. Everyone has got a real kick out of winning the race for him.'
â� Stardom holds on to win at Scone with Adam Hyeronimus doing the steering! @GaiWaterhouse1 pic.twitter.com/fRPQ3glZjj
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 17, 2025
Hyeronimus praised the training effort of Waterhouse and Bott to bring Stardom back from 1200m when she won at Wagga Wagga to be sharp enough for a Listed race at 1100m.
'Generally, Gai and Adrian's horses progress out over further once they start racing so they deserve a lot of credit for bringing Stardom back to 1100m,' Hyeronimus said.
'She is sharp out of the gates and puts herself into a really good position. She showed a lot of determination, too.'
The Woodlands Stakes has a history of producing top class fillies including recent winners like Lazzura (2024), In Secret (2022), Libertini (2019) and Flippant (2015).
But to underline the merit of Stardom's effort, she was able to run the Scone 1100m in 1m 03.07s which is faster than any other Woodlands Stakes winner.
Early leader Rainbow Glow dropped out to finish a long last, beaten more than 15 lengths, so Stardom's win was outstanding considering she settled on speed in a fast-run race but still found plenty under pressure in the straight.
Stardom is superbly bred by champion sire Zoustar out of the Snitzel mare, Diddums, herself the winner of the Group 3 PJ Bell Stakes when she defeated a future Group 1 winner, Prompt Response.
Stardom jumps out the best and finishes the best to take out the first at Wagga! 🌟 @GaiWaterhouse1 | @stanley_jett pic.twitter.com/cNhdKRqIgC
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 1, 2025
Diddums is also a half-sister to Hong Kong superstar Voyage Bubble, winner of the Hong Kong International Mile and Hong Kong Gold Cup this season.
Since Diddums produced Stardom, she has had a filly by Toronado and is back in foal to Zoustar.
Stardom's Listed win in the Woodlands Stakes immediately makes the filly a priceless potential broodmare while significantly enhancing her dam's value.
Paine was unsure of immediate plans for Stardom who improved her record to two wins and a third from just three starts.
'There are some nice stakes races for fillies coming up in Brisbane and I'm sure Gai and Adrian will have a close look at the program,' Paine said.
'I'm sure they will want to see how Stardom comes through today's race before deciding what they do next with her.'
The Kris Lees -trained Wollzeile, a daughter of Tassort, was having her first start since winning an Ipswich maiden back in January and her fast-finishing second suggests she is a filly to follow.
Akaysha drew wide and jockey Tom Sherry elected to go back early and the filly had most of the field in front of her at the 400m before she made a strong late surge to grab the minor placings.
â– â– â– â– â–
Zealously sprinted his way back to stakes grade after a brilliant display of sustained speed to smash the track record at the Scone stand-alone meeting on Saturday.
It was a hometown win of sorts for trainer Peter Snowden as Zealously ran his rivals ragged in the GRO Events Handicap (1100m).
The flying Zealously stopped the clock at a hand-timed 1m 02.13s, breaking the previous fastest time of 1m 02.23s established by Divine Vicky two years ago.
There was some conjecture about whether Zealously's time should stand as a track record given the electronic timing system was not working during the race but Racing NSW are looking into the matter to verify the Snowden sprinter's actual winning time.
But none of this mattered to Snowden who was relieved to get on the board at the Scone carnival.
Snowden grew up in the Scone area before he moved to Sydney and chased his dream of becoming a trainer.
Zealously with a big win after leading all the way at Scone! ðŸ'¨ @NockBraith | @SnowdenRacing1 pic.twitter.com/oAuyRfOSgj
â€' SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) May 17, 2025
That was more than 40 years ago and these days Snowden is recognised as one of the nation's leading trainers with nearly 2700 career wins including 49 at Group 1 level – but he still gets a kick out of winning at the Scone Cup Carnival.
'There's a bit of pressure to get a winner when we come home,' Snowden said. 'So, it always means a lot to win here at Scone in front of my family and friends.'
Zealously ($3.50 favourite), ridden by apprentice Braith Nock, jumped straight to the front and gave nothing else a chance as he scored by nearly two lengths from a game Dollar Magic ($5.50) with Spanish Fox ($41) a half-length away third.
Snowden said Zealously deserves another chance at stakes level and will add the promising young sprinter to the stable's Brisbane carnival team.
'Zealously's very talented as he showed in that $3 million race on the Sunshine Coast (The Sunlight) when he ran fourth to Private Harry and Lady Of Camelot – that's a very good form race,' Snowden said.
'As a colt, Zealously was a bit of a handful but as a gelding he is very genuine.
'He has a lot of speed and the key to him is good ground. He still tries on rain-affected tracks but he's not the same horse.
'I will take him to Brisbane for the carnival as long as the tracks are suitable.'
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