An emotional Alex Rae was delighted to see stable star Shock ‘Em Ova (NZ) (Shocking) demolish his opposition at Caulfield on Saturday.
The son of Shocking closed from the tale of the field to land the Selangor Turf Club Handicap (1400m) fresh-up under Dean Yendall and had nearly three lengths on closest rival First Accused.
“Mum’s quite sick at the moment and it is pretty difficult, but it is nice to get a win with the big fella,” Rae said as he choked back tears.
“He’s a very good horse and we have been so patient. I am so grateful to have the owners in this horse that let me basically stuff around with him for three years, but we believe that being by Shocking and being such a big raw talent that he was really going to deliver.
“I haven’t been training that long and I certainly haven’t had any horses at the top level, but we have always believed that this horse could potentially head in that direction. I am not sure how good he is, but he is the best I have had.”
A Queensland campaign now beckons Shock ‘Em Ova with the Gr.3 Lord Mayor’s Cup (1800m) at Eagle Farm on June 1 his next assignment before a possible tilt at the A$1.2 million Q22 (2200m) a fortnight later.
“On what he did today he is going to be really competitive in the Lord Mayor’s and it is probably a good opportunity to now start testing the waters against some better opposition,” Rae said.
Shock ‘Em Ova has now won five of his 10 career starts with a further four placings and boasts A$412,350 in prizemoney and the long-range plan is the Gr.1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) in spring.
Shock ‘Em Ova was bred by Eales Racing Pty Ltd and is the first foal to race out of the two-race-winning Domesday mare Domerova, who comes from the family of the Gr.1 Irish St Leger (2800m) Wicklow Brave (Beat Hollow).
Shock ‘Em Ova was offered by Rich Hill Stud in Book 2 of Karaka 2020, where he was purchased by the Rae family’s Northumberland Thoroughbreds for $26,000.
