Attica leads Stakes race winning treble for Godolphin three-year-olds

Exciting three-year-old Attica produced another powerful finish to win the G1 Spring Champion Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday, 25 October – a day Godolphin also secured two G2 victories with Ohope and Observer in different states.

Three weeks after Attica, at just his third race start for Warwick Farm trainer Joe Pride, won the Listed Dulcify Stales 1,600m at Randwick, the colt again surged from near the tail of the field at the home turn to notch his first win at the highest level.

And two years after jockey Adam Hyeronimus won the same race aboard the Godolphin-trained Tom Kitten, Attica mowed down Shangri La Boy to win by a short neck with The Pearls 2.5 lengths away in third place.

A son of former champion galloper and Darley sire Lonhro, Attica made it three wins and one placing from four starts and justified trainer Joe Pride’s opinion.

The long-striding colt stopped the clock on 2 minutes 3.47 seconds to lift his prize-money and bonuses earnings to $1,389,200.

“We're part of the way there, Spring Champion, you know, is a very nice race – a Group 1, but there's still a lot to be done with him,” Pride said.
“Bear in mind it's his first preparation and I thought he just had too much to do at the furlong. 

“He was chasing the favourite, but just the way he pinned his ears back and attacked the line, 2,000m, no problems at all.
“I’ve got a lot of confidence in the horse, but it was going to be a big ask from there, and just maybe the track's playing a little bit more on pace than I would have liked today.

“But gee, you know, for him to do this in his first preparation is really exciting.”
Pride said Attica would go straight to the paddock and could return even better next preparation.

“I've been handed a beautiful horse by the Godolphin and horses like this, they weren't on my doorstep a couple of years ago,” he said.
“So it's nice to be working with quality and yeah, it's a great result. 

“It'd be nice to think we could get him a bit sharper for the autumn and aim at races like the Randwick Guineas 1,600m.
“But we'll worry about all of that later on.”

Hyeronimus said he was always confident Attica could finish fast enough to catch Shangri La Boy.

“Truth be known, I had a lot of plans, and at the end of every plan I'd made, he was always the winner,” the jockey said.
“Just keep it simple, that was the biggest thing out of my 85 plans.

“He was still the best horse and I felt he was always going to win, it was just a matter of how it unfolded for us.
“I just kept edging and then at the 150m I knew I was always going to pick him up.

“But for him to do that, and the way he's won in that fashion, and the times that he's run, this early in his career it's very exciting.”

Attica’s victory handed Godolphin successive wins after the improving Ohope was victorious in G2 Callender-Presnell over 1,600m, courtesy of a brilliant Jason Collett ride.

Collett parked the I Am Invincible colt in fourth position until straightening for home but held his ground and kept the runner-up, Rivellino, in a pocket until 150m from home.

Ohope sprinted well enough to hold off Rivellino by a half-length, with Fermoy another 2.7 lengths away in third place, recording his third win, with three placings, from eight starts for prize-money earnings of $924,985.

It was also Ohope’s second Black-Type victory following his win in the Listed Tapp-Craig Stakes over 1,400m at Rosehill Gardens two weeks ago.

“Yeah, it's a big thrill,” trainer Michael Freedman said.
“I said to them after he won the race last start that I thought there was more upside to him and that the mile wouldn't be a problem.

“I think that's probably going to be his absolute best distance, but it opens up a few options for him going forward, for sure.
“He's a lovely colt, and I think a pretty exciting one, so heading into the autumn next year, I'm not sure how much more there is for him this time around. 

“I think anywhere from that 1,200m-1,600m bracket is in his hitting zone.
“He's had a great prep, he’ll go for a bit of a break now.”

Collett said Ohope had the potential to develop into a galloping machine.
“He's a big boy, but a lovely horse,” the former Kiwi horseman said.

“I was pretty confident over the rise, I was in the right spot; I knew where Nash (Rawiller) was and obviously, yeah, Tommy (Berry).
“I was full of horse over the rise.”

Down at The Valley in Melbourne, Observer booked himself a G1 VRC Derby start next weekend when he led most of the way to win the G2 Drummond Golf Vase over 2,040m.

Jockey Mark Zahra had no hesitation taking the free-running son of Ghaiyyath to the front after 400m and Observer travelled sweetly until Zahra gave him more rein with 300m to travel.

An unlucky third due to a chequered passage in the G1 Caulfield Guineas 1,600m at his previous start, Observer dashed clear before being eased down to beat Providence by a half-length with O’Sheamus a length away in third place.

Trainer Ciaron Maher said he was ‘thrilled” with the performance and that Observer would take confidence from the victory.

“It’s great to train a winner for the Godolphin team and he’s a colt with a very bright future,” Maher said.
“The Derby has always been the plan, but he can be quite free so we thought we’d bring him here today.

“Give him the run in the Vase and then the back up at 2,500m would be the best option for him.
“He breaks really quickly and Mark was probably always going to end up in that position.

“Great to have Mark on, great ride and he took luck out of it.”
Zahra said he wasn’t concerned when wide out of the straight the first time as Observer was “just doing it so easily”.

“I just let him bowl and he was good in front, just having a look around,” he said.
“He quickened up a bit at the 400m and then I remembered next week, so I had a look at the big screen.

“He pulled up beautifully too, so onwards and upwards for next week.”

Observer boosted his record to two wins and three placings from six starts for a prize-money and bonuses purse of $587,100.