Right now, the Encosta de Lago three-year-old Northern Meteor (pictured) must be the most serious stallion prospect in Australia. Ahead of even the likes of Sebring, Von Costa de Hero, Time Thief et al.
How many good horses down the years have trodden the turf at Randwick over 1200m and at Canterbury over 1250m? Northern Meteor has now run faster than any of them in what is essentially a two start career since he got on top of the ground and had blinkers applied.
He has beaten no champions on either occasion, that's for sure (my little buy Geared Up was best of the others today at Randwick) but the times are in the book.
His career could stop right now and that would scarcely lessen his credentials (Danzig and Red Ransom (USA) only had three starts each, winning five of the six). His speed should be bottled.
He’s a big, imposing individual as you might expect from a horse bred on his cross. Oozes power and masculinity. And what about the pedigree? First two dams by Fappiano and Forli, the grandam Scuff being a blood sister to Special (think Nureyev, Sadler’s Wells etc), the colt being linebred to these genetic siblings. Hard to knock that package, I’d take a chance with him!
Andrew Baddock’s phone at Gooree Park Stud will be ringing off the wall.
I draw some similarities with O’Reilly (NZ) who had just a six-start career. Like Northern Meteor unraced at two, he won his first four straight including 1000m in 56.32 secs, a G1 3YO 1600m at his third start and a G1 all-age 1200m at his fourth start in 1:07.36, by 2.8 lengths. A month later he was at Flemington where he finished second to Mouawad in the G1 Australian Guineas (Gooree Stud-bred King Ivor was fourth) then he broke down and failed to finish as favourite in the G1 Newmarket Handicap.
P.S. In a small touch of irony, it was a John Hawkes trainee Ab Initio (by Spectacular Spy) whose name Northern Meteor erased from the Randwick record book. John trained Northern Meteor for his first two starts before his transfer, along with all the Gooree horses, to Gai Waterhouse.
2 comments:
Northern Meteor was awesome yesterday. On a track that was considered "leaderish", it wouldn't have mattered either way, he would have smashed them and run a quick time in the process. If he turns up for the Ascot Vale in that kind of form they won't see where he went. The look on Andrew Baddock face after the race was priceless, jockey Jamie Innes' comment was "Yeah, he went alright didn't he". Jamie would say the same thing to the connections of a winner of a Quirindi maiden. Regarding John Hawkes training Ab Initio, thats correct at the end of his career, Pat Webster trained him for the majority and for when he broke the Randwick 1200m course record in a Flying Welter (will happily stand corrected), he was $2.00 that day. Some betting agencies were offering $2.90 about Northern Meteor yesterday!
Of course you're correct regarding Pat Webster/John Hawkes and Ab Initio. Having barely arrived in Australia at the time I couldn't recall when the change was made. I've never known you to have such an interest in all the betting agencies until you started working alongside Richard Callander.
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