After two days of uncertainty around the track at Randwick, there was nothing to worried about if you backed Espionage (+130) in the Group 3 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) to kick off the opening day of The Championships, as the colt delivered the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott stable another two-year-old winner.
With the meeting kicking off on a Heavy 9, there were plenty of queries about the wet track form of each of the six runners, as none of them had run on a Heavy track prior to Saturday, but the race favourite revelled in the conditions on his way to a big win.
The son of Zoustar came into the race as the clear class horse in the field after missing out on a run in the Golden Slipper as an emergency, and he proved it with a strong finish to come from just behind the leader and kick clear from Roselyn’s Star (+280) in the final 200m.
Although, the runner-up was well supported before the jump and looked to be cruising at the top of the home straight, the John O’Shea-trained runner couldn’t go with the favourite late and finished three lengths away in second.
2024 Kindergarten Stakes Replay – Espionage
Adrian Bott was on course to speak about the win of Espionage post-race.
“Things happen for a reason, so he’s been able to bounce back and show his class today,” Bott said.
“That’s an important win for him, obviously being a colt with the stud value there, he’s continued to show that class that he’s got.
“I think we’ll probably look to put him away now for the spring and focus on a couple of those sharp three-year-old races for him.
“He put the writing on the wall there back at Randwick at his very first career start in the Breeders Plate and I think from there we always held him in very high regard.
“We set him on the Slipper path from that point, but we’ve changed at the last minute.
“Things have worked out for the right reason.
“You probably needed a fit horse on this testing track, and he’s been exactly that and had the right lead-up for it.”
Tommy Berry was very happy with the win and he also had some comments on the condition of the track.
“I think I’d heard more about him than felt early days, but I took him on that in the Slipper,” Berry said of the winner.
“We were obviously disappointed not to get a run, but (they) gave him a nice trial in between.
“Gai and Adrian, they know what they’re doing with their horses; a 1200-metre trial back to 1100 and on a track like this it definitely proved to be the winning move today.
“He still got quite lost that last bit, so he still had plenty more in the locker.
“Michael Wood and his whole team here at the ATC have done an amazing job.
“I thought they were talking a little bit of you-know-what at about 7 o’clock this morning when I was at Rosehill and it was still pouring down with rain but they’ve done amazing job.
“It walked like an 8 but rode like a 9 so I think it’s in between an 8 and 9 but it’s a beautiful day so there’s a chance of an up-grade later on.”
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