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OTI celebrates winners around the globe

As the cold weather sets in, OTI celebrates a successful Autumn campaign with two potential Melbourne Cup contenders, multiple group victories and plenty of new prospects joining the stable.

On the back of Quick Thinker’s return to form with a superior staying performance in the Group Two Chairman’s Quality and Great-Britain bred import Selino’s remarkable victory in the Group One Schweppes Sydney Cup over 3200m, another four winners were added to the tally this weekend.

Headed into the weekend with a total of 17 runners across Australia, Ireland and New Zealand, our phones were buzzing with excitement as owners from around the globe received pre-race communications and updates.

The weekend began with a bang when the Irish colt Ottoman Emperor demonstrated his ability to break his maiden in just his second start for trainer John Murtagh. Purchased on the back of a superior jump out back in late 2020, Murtagh was immediately taken with the horse and gave him an excellent recommendation, saying that, as an unfurnished scopey individual, there was plenty of improvement to come.

Though the three-year-old colt may have been a little shaky straightening up, once he found his feet, he let down in the last 200m and squashed any doubt of a very exciting future.

Downunder, Blue Ocean scored the first of the Phillip Stokes/Ben Allen combination victories for the weekend. The ever consistent gelding is never far away, finishing top three in 9 of his 14 starts, and Saturday was no different. The $10 chance paraded nicely, looked a picture on-course and with Ben Allen on board, it was smooth sailing for Blue Ocean to deliver a deserved win from well back in a BM70 over 1800m.

Lightning struck for the second time this weekend for the Allen/Stokes duo as Melbourne Cup hopeful Amade made his return to the winner’s circle on just his second start back from 12 months out with injury. Following his victory in the G2 Belmont Gold Cup (3219m) in New York in June 2019, he suffered an unfortunate set back, “He’s been with our team for about a year. He was down at Warrnambool doing a bit of rehabilitation work, and it’s just good that he’s come this far this quickly,” said his trainer Phillip Stokes

 “To get a result like this second-up is better than expected”.

“It’s been a long trip with this horse. A big thank you to OTI for giving him to us to start with,”

Amade boasts a worldwide ownership group with interests from Italy, Monaco, England, New Zealand and Australia. They have been patient with the horse’s rehabilitation process and allowed us to take the time with him, which resulted in an efficient return to the winner’s circle.

My Swashbuckler rounded out the weekend when he pulled away to score his first victory on Australian turf. The Kris Lees trained gelding reached the post with a four-length gap to the rest of the field under local jockey Aaron Bullock.

As the Autumn Carnival came to a close, My Swashbuckler marked the 300th individual winner for OTI Racing history. Terry Henderson, who was on-course at Caulfield and Flemington this weekend, said, “After a challenging year or so in many regards, weekends like this are what makes this sport so unique. To have 17 runners worldwide and connections from a multitude of countries, we feel very blessed to be a part of such an enduring industry.”

“One of the most rewarding parts of the Autumn was the opportunity to once again celebrate with our connections on course,”

“We look forward to the Brisbane Winter Carnival and the many exciting prospects we have coming through at the moment.”

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