While we’re still on a high from Warmonger’s Group 1 Queensland Derby win a little over a week ago, the long weekend (for most!) winners certainly didn’t disappoint either. We ended the weekend with five winners, including four horses collecting their first career victory.
Highland Bling and Natural Ruler started a successful 24 hours in Ireland, recording a race-to-race double for the colours at Fairyhouse.
Highland Bling, trained by Jessica Harrington, delivered a tough win, making all from the front in a genuinely run race. Plans are yet to be confirmed for the 3yo gelding, but a nomination at Royal Ascot is on the cards. He’s raced in partnership with Bronsan Racing, and was sourced with the help of our great friends at de Burgh Equine.
Three-year-old colt Natural Ruler added to the success in the following race. It’s a well-deserved first win for the colt and his connections, having been unlucky so far this season. Trainer Johnny Murtagh thinks the colt has plenty of upside, and his mark of 80 looks very workable. He’ll continue to work his way through the grades before boarding a plane to Australia late this year!
On Saturday at Navan, Mo Ghille Mar also collected her first official career win for OTI and Bronsan Racing, again sourced with de Burgh Equine’s help. After losing her previous start on protest, the filly showed she was most deserving to be in the winner’s stall. Like Highland Bling, exact plans for her next target are yet to be confirmed, but she’s a filly on the improve who could well stay further.
Back in Australia, Montecristo scored his first win for connections and trainer Matt Williams at the Swan Hill Carnival on Sunday. Returning to better footing, the gelding got his chance to show a genuine performance and did just that. He joins a long list of winners sourced out of New Zealand in conjunction with Phill Cataldo.
Rounding off the weekend with win number five was Holstein at Canterbury Park on Monday. The gelding collected another city victory with a very genuine showing. The performance had plenty of merit, being 5 weeks between runs, up in distance on testing enough ground, so Matt Dunn and his team have done a great job. He could well now stay in Sydney to tackle a Saturday race in the coming weeks, with the 1800m Benchmark 78 at Rosehill on June 29 looking a logical target.
There are plenty of exciting young horses competing worldwide in the OTI colours, thanks to the great support of our loyal client base. Let’s hope we can snag a winner at Royal Ascot next week!