Jockey Ben Looker describes Victorem win as his 'Melbourne Cup'

It was a race that saw qualifying country horses from each State region represented, Victorem belonging to the Mid North-Coast location being prepared at Port Macquarie by Jenny Graham.

Graham ear-marked the Mid North-Coast Country Championship wualifying race at Port Macquarie in February, which the horse also won, before the final. Credit also goes to the gelding’s regular and local jockey Ben Looker, who described his win aboard Victorem as “his Melbourne Cup.”

Victorem defeated the Danny Williams, Goulburn, trained Don’t Give A Damn and O’ So Hazy (by O’Lonhro) trained at Wagga Wagga by Scott Spackman for the placings.

A $65,000 purchase from the 2016 Magic Millions Two-Year-Olds In Training Sale, Victorem has never been headed in his last five starts since his racing career was initiated with a fourth at Casino in May last year. 

Victorem was one of three winners (including two stakes winners Houtzen and Paquirri) on the Randwick program being by Yarraman Park’s seemingly invincible sire, I Am Invincible.

John and Helen North’s Bowness Stud also had “a big day in the city”.  Not only did the second placegetter of the Country Championship Final Don’t Give A Damn was foaled and reared at their Young located property and is by their prolific winner-getting sire Bon Hoffa, but they also foaled and reared Trapeze Artist, a Snitzel three-year-old winner of the $2.5 million Darley T J Smith Stakes-G1.

Combined with Bon Hoffa’s feature placegetter (Don’t Give A Damn), was the tall chestnut stallion’s Irish bred stable companion Myboycharlie who sired Sir Charles Road, winner of the ATC Schweppes Chairman’s Quality-G3 (2600 metres), another coup for Bowness.

Young Newcastle conditioner Benjamin Smith scored his second Group 1 winner in a week when 80 to 1 outsider El Dorado Dreaming won the $1m Inglis Sires Produce Stakes-G1. The juvenile filly becomes the first Group 1 winner by Victorian based sire Ilovethiscity (a Magic Albert Group 1 winner).

Coolmore’s Pierro sired his second Group 1 winner when three-year-old son Levendi won the $2m Harrolds Australian Derby-G1, while Happy Clapper – prepared at Randwick by Pat Webster, was the deserved winner of the $3m The Star Doncaster Mile. The seven-year-old gelding by former Darley shuttler Teofilo had finished second in the time-honoured race in the last two runnings.

THE huge ringside crowd surged forward to get a glimpse of the first horse to be sold in the history making inaugural Australian Easter Yearling Sale at Inglis’s $140m state-of-the-art Warwick Farm selling complex, Riverside Stables last Monday.

That horse - a Redoute’s Choice filly - sold via Lime Country Thoroughbreds, Burradoo, fetched $550,000 way above the $373,895 commanded for the average price of the 86 sold youngsters during the first session of the three day and time honoured auction.

But seven-figure prices were on order during the first hour of the afternoon auction with five selling for $1 million or more in the first hour. By session end seven yearlings crossed the magical million mark.

It was a remarkable session for John Messara’s Arrowfield Stud, Scone, who sold five of the seven million dollar horses. This included the top price of $1.3m for Snitzel filly, from Irish bred mare Azmiyna, which sold to Chris Waller Racing and agent Guy Mulcaster.

Gross sales for day one of the sale amounted to $32.15m, for a 77 per cent clearance. Another Scone located breeding farm the Mike Fleming operated Bhima Thoroughbreds sold the second top at $1.2m for another Snitzel youngster, a colt from Asscher.

Super sire Snitzel who stands at Arrowfield, had his yearlings average $561,500, while Yarraman Park’s I Am Invincible had a $535,500 average for the leading sires for three or more sold lots during the first session.

Fairview Park Stud, Grose Wold, sold the I Am Invincible’s day one top seller, which was from Snitzel mare Eye For Fun for $1.05m. The colt sold to Gai Waterhouse/Adrian Bott and Blue Sky Bloodstock.