It was Goulburn, on a heavy surface, just out of winter. Certainly not the traditional launching pad for an assault on Australia’s AUD1,000,000 G1 Golden Rose. But Snapback did what he was sent to do, plugging through the sticky surface to break his maiden on his three-year-old debut without ever being pressured.
“Look, he came, he saw, he conquered,” said Mike Smith, China Horse Club’s Australian Representative of Snapback.
Snapback as a yearling
“It’s great to get that maiden win out of the way even though he didn’t love the heavy track.”
In five starts as a juvenile, Snapback demonstrated undoubted talent. He was narrowly beaten on debut by subsequent G2 Sweet Embrace Stakes winner Lazzago in December and then later in the season almost delivered the G2 BTC Sires Produce Stakes after a torrid run when wide throughout.
It was a performance of such merit that trainers Peter and Paul Snowden elected to keep him in work and aiming up for the G1 JJ Atkins Stakes. The BTC Sires and JJ Atkins Stakes performances, further affirmed that Snapback deserved to continue playing in the deeper pool against the best colts of his generation.
The G1 Golden Rose has quickly risen to assume the mantle of one of Australia’s definitive ‘stallion making races’. Snapback’s connections have been fortunate to have benefited from its standing through the deeds of race record holder and current stallion In The Congo.
In 2023, they will be among the many targeting the Rosehill Gardens spring feature with Snapback remaining in contention for the contest alongside star juveniles Militarize and Don Corleone.
“Hopefully Snapback can bounce through it well and we can get a decent track for him in the Golden Rose in a fortnight,” Smith continued.
“Obviously, the Golden Rose will be magnitudes harder than this but he should have gotten some confidence out of today which the value of can’t be underestimated in a young horse.”
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