Peter Snowden unearths spring contender with Raging Force bringing up hat-trick at Rosehill
Raging Force, Sydney's winter two-year-old sprint find, seems destined for stardom after another exciting win at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
Champion jockey Tommy Berry is the number one ticketholder in Raging Force's growing fan club after a dominant win in the Thank You ATC Members Handicap (1100m).
Berry said the promising young sprinter is simply 'too good' to be racing at this stage of the season.
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'Raging Force definitely has stakes potential,' Berry said.
'He is still learning his craft but I loved the way he took that gap in the straight.
'He still has to make more improvement which I think he will. He's improving with every start and you don't see how good they are until they race against the better quality of horses because that brings the best out of them.'
Trained by the maestro Peter Snowden, Raging Force was confidently backed into $1.70 favouritism and completed a hat-trick of wins when he scored easily by 2¼ lengths from Horseshoe Hill ($7) with nearly three lengths to Lull ($21) third.
Raging Force showed promise at the early season barrier trials but pulled up sore when unplaced on debut in the Breeders Plate.
Snowden gave the two-year-old plenty of time to recover and waited until winter to take the gelding back to the races, winning the Red Crown at Muswellbrook first-up, then winning by a big margin at the Kensington midweeks before making the rise to Sydney Saturday grade look routine.
'Raging Force was very good today,' Berry said.
'I was very proud of the way he reacted to the situation that unfolded in the first furlong and a half.
'When he jumped so well I was a bit positive to try and hold that lead but they went quick and I let them cross.
'He got his head up for two or three strides but then came back under me. It just shows his versatility, how 'smart' he is now and how much he is willing to work with us.
'I could have sent him to the line without the stick today but I did that last time and I thought I would help him find the line as he has tougher tasks ahead.
'I still feel he will be better at 1200m and 1400m when he can get into a rhythm, relax, and it is not all 100 miles an hour. He is simply too good for them at the moment.'
Raging Force continues the outstanding season of leading syndicator Scott Darby of Darby Racing which has already yielded more than 100 winners including the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes, Group 2 wins in The Ingham, Shannon Stakes, and Ajax Stakes, Group 3 wins in the Sydney Stakes, Brisbane Cup, Sweet Embrace Stakes, Newcastle Stakes, Parramatta Cup, Queen Elizabeth II Cup and Liverpool City Cup, plus a host of Listed races.
'I purchased Raging Force at the Classic Sale for $150,000. We bought him purely on type, he is a lovely horse,' Darby said.
'He will have two weeks off then we will plan a spring campaign for him.'
The promising rising three-year-old is a son of Snowden's former crack sprinter Cosmic Force, winner of the 2019 Pago Pago Stakes by seven lengths before finishing unplaced as favourite to Kiamichi in the Golden Slipper.
Snowden wasn't on track at Rosehill but his stable representative Aaron Lau confirmed there are plans to set Raging Force for some of the better three-year-old races in spring.
'We're going to tip him out for a couple of weeks. Obviously, the spring isn't far, it will be on our doorstep very shortly,' Lau said.
'We just wanted to get today over and done with and see where he stood. He was up against a few last start winners and Bjorn's horse (Baker, trainer of Horseshoe Hill) goes very well, as does Blake Ryan's, he rates his horse (Just Awesome) as well so it was nice to see Raging Force do it today.
'He's got a great attitude, a lovely, big action and he's probably better on top of the ground as well. He's very progressive and it's exciting going forward.'
Raging Force's hat-trick of winter wins means he is 'officially in the black' with nearly $170,000 prizemoney – and the promise of a lot more to come.
Berry said Raging Force's improvement from race to race was evident in the first 200m of his Rosehill Win.
'All he wants to do is relax and when he jumped he put his head straight on his chest but I thought we will end up three pairs back on the fence so I had to push him along to hold the lead,' he said.
'Then they wanted to go too quick so I asked him to come back and after a couple of strides he was sweet.
'I stayed about a length and a half back so I had options to go around them if I needed but I could see Regan's horse (Bayliss on Just Awesome) runs around a bit. I thought he is going to give us some room at some point and he did.
'But I think Pete's masterstroke was to take him away to Muswellbrook and then even after that another trip away to Wyong for the trials as education.
'He may have still won those two races anyway but I don't think he would have executed as well today if he had not had those trips away.'
Originally published as Tommy Berry declares Raging Force a stakes contender as gelding brings up hat-trick with impressive win at Rosehill
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