Before they went on to capture the attention of punters,the trio met in a Canterbury maiden on February 1 last year. No fanfare,just a couple of nice horses on debut and Queen Of Dragons facing the starter for the second time.
History could show Militarize’s win at Canterbury could be one of the best maidens in Australia as Queen Of Dragons and Wymark emerge as group 1 contenders.Bradleys Photos
Militarize would come down the centre of the track to win,before taking out the, and within the next eight months. About a length behind were Queen Of Dragons and an unlucky Wymark.
“It is funny how that happens sometimes,you’re not going to Canterbury thinking ‘we’re going to run into a couple of stakes horses’,” Wymark’s trainer Michael Freedman said.
“I remember we thought we had a nice colt going to the races that day and he didn’t have the best of luck.
“By the end of the autumn,we knew he had run into a very good colt in Militarize and it was becoming obvious that[Wymark] might be better as a gelding.”
Queen of Dragons will chase a group 1 win of her own in Saturday’s Vinery Stud Stakes.Getty
Paul Snowden remembered leaving Canterbury slightly disappointed that Queen Of Dragons didn’t put a win on the board.
“We rated her and thought we had a nice filly that was going to get better over more ground,” Snowden said. “It seemed the right race but we ran into a group 1 winner.”
Just over a year later,Queen Of Dragons is a group 3 winner from the Kembla Grange Classic last start and will look to add a group 1 of her own in the Vinery Stud Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
Wymark will chase the Tulloch Stakes at group 2 level on the same program and eyes the Australian Derby next week on day one of The Championships at Randwick,where Militarize will be ridden by Zac Purton in the Doncaster.
The modest Canterbury contest has echoes of the 2010 Newmarket maiden where British champion Frankel announced himself with a narrow victory over fellow star Nathaniel.Getty
The Canterbury midweeker has echoes of the Newmarket maiden in 2010 when two champions – Frankel and Nathaniel – clashed on their first day at the races.
Frankel would have an unbeaten career with 10 group 1 wins,while Nathaniel won three times at the top level including the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes. Both went on to become breed shapers at stud.
By the time the trio in question turn four,the Canterbury maiden could boast three group 1 winners.
Queen Of Dragons might be a big price in the Vinery,but it has been a long-planned target for the Pierro filly. She took until October of her three-year-old season to be a winner and was then beaten in a photo over 1800m at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival to finish her spring.
“He always had a bit of quality about him and we are really starting to see it now.”
Wymark’s trainer Michael Freedman
“She just needed to mature to be ready for this sort of trip and she has taken the right steps,” Snowden said. “She was dominant at Kembla and I think the 2000m will suit her even better.
“We have targeted this race and the Oaks with her and she continues to improve. It has been a case of building her up to get to this trip and now we will find out how she is.”
Wymark,meanwhile,took until his seventh run to find the winner’s stall in a Newcastle Super Maiden last month – a year after his Canterbury debut – and he has gone on with the job,clocking up a hat-trick of wins.
It has Freedman eyeing a late entry into the Australian Derby should he run well in the Tulloch Stakes,where he is the $2.50 favourite after beating the older horses over 1900m at Rosehill a couple of weeks ago.
“If he races well on Saturday,I think we will go to the Derby because he looks like that trip is really going to suit him,” Freedman said.
“We thought he was more a sprinter-miler to start with,but as he has got out in trip he has just got better.
“I didn’t think he would be a stayer and that’s why I didn’t put him in the Derby,but he keeps showing us that he is going to get a trip. He is more focused after being gelded,which definitely helped him.
“He always had a bit of quality about him and we are really starting to see it now.”
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