Robusto ready to mount solid Winter Challenge

New Paper

17-07-2025

Falling mercury levels may keep Sydneysiders at home these days, but its racegoers would have more than the crisp and bracing air to lure them out of their couches to Rosehill Gardens on July 19.
The hot racing action at the city track will feature its last "black type" contest of its racing calendar, the Listed Winter Challenge (1,500m) which has drawn a smallish but competitive field of 10 vying for the thicker end of the A$200,000 (S$168,000) stakes up for grabs.
For those who claim cold weather can numb the brain cells, they will have no excuse this time, with the task of spotting a winner made easier by the "Winter" form line.
Seven of the Winter Challenge contenders came out of the Listed Winter Stakes (1,400m) at the same course a fortnight ago on July 5.
On face value, surprise but comfortable winner Estadio Mestalla will not fly under the radar this time.
But without taking anything away from in-form trainer Joseph Pride's Irish-bred and a gutsy ride by young gun Dylan Gibbons, the circumstances of the race served the 60-1 long shot the victory on a platter.
Other than go-forward customer Whinchat spearing over from his wide alley to camp on his haunches during the middle stages, Estadio Mestalla was untroubled and got away with some cheap sectionals.
Besides, the ease of the cheeky win has not come without a price. The Galileo Gold six-year-old is the only one of the Winter Stakes sevens to cop a hefty penalty from the Sydney handicapper - from 54.5kg to 57.5kg.
The weight surcharge is not the only reason why he may not go back-to-back on Saturday.
Among the beaten brigade, tellingly, the next threesome past the line, Robusto, his better-fancied stablemate that day, Accredited, and Thunderlips will be among those favoured to turn the tables on him, especially the Bjorn Baker-trained Robusto.
A 12-1 chance that day, he was a tragedy beaten. As jockey Joshua Parr got on his bike at the 300m, the doors closed on the A$2 million Group 2 The Ingham (1,600m) winner twice at a crucial stage, once by the laying-in Accredited and the second time when tightened for room by Welwal.
By the time, the Churchill five-year-old saw daylight, the bird had already flown, but he still took stacks of ground off the winner to cut the margin back to 1½ lengths.
While he shoulders the top weight of 60kg again, the 3kg swing on Estadio Mestalla as well as the extra 100m should help him exact revenge towards an eighth success.
Among the three non-Winter Stakes runners who could upset the applecart, Fortunate Kiss stands out.
The Adelaide challenger is at her first Sydney raid, but is unlikely to be all at sea as she did go around the clockwise way in Brisbane at her last three starts.
At the last one, she even sprang a 25-1 shock in the Listed Glasshouse Handicap (1,400m) at the Sunshine Coast on July 5 for Lloyd Kennewell and Lucy Yeomans and a winning pick-up ride for underrated jockey Luke Tarrant.
That day, the ride on the Divine Prophet mare was meant to go to Ronnie Stewart, but the three-time Singapore Gold Cup-winning jockey was ruled out through an injury picked up earlier in the day.
Kennewell has this time engaged a safe pair of hands around Rosehill for his 9-1 chance in local veteran hoop Jay Ford, who himself would be keen to snap a run of outs since returning from a fall scare at a midweek Canterbury meeting on July 9.
A head knock did call for some precautionary scans, which luckily came out clear.
Ford, who is better known to Singapore racegoers as the winning jockey aboard Australia's rags-to-riches champion Takeover Target in the 2008 Group 1 KrisFlyer International Sprint (1,200m) at Kranji, returned to the saddle the week after but has yet to get back on the scoresheet in three meetings.
[e-mail]