For the third successive weekend the China Horse Club has cheered home a high-profile winner of a feature race after Wild Ruler dominated the AUD300,000 G2 Roman Consul Stakes in Sydney, Australia. His triumph continued on a run of weekend success that started with Improbable (26th September) in the G1 Awesome Again Stakes and was carried forward by Valiance (4th October) in the G1 Spinster Stakes. It also saw him add his name to an honour roll that includes former China Horse Club standard-bearer and now exciting stallion Russian Revolution.
Like Russian Revolution, the G2 Roman Consul Stakes win has ensured Wild Ruler has the commercial credentials to retire to stud when the time comes. However, the trajectory of his career this spring ensures this is the furthest thing from the minds of connections right now.
The clinical execution of rivals by Wild Ruler immediately had commentators proposing he was a deserving entrant in the AUD15 million Everest, the richest turf race in the world. The lure of such a contest is unlikely to sway connections who will bid to build his commercial profile further in next month’s G1 Coolmore Stud Stakes.
James Macdonald (rider of Wild Ruler)
“[Wild Ruler] is still learning how to develop and settle in his races. The more racing he has, he is certainly going to achieve that. He is probably six to 12 months away from his optimum performance,” said champion jockey James Macdonald post-race.
“The most pleasing part was the way he executed. Obviously, he has taken his time to get to where he is today, but he jumped out of the ground from his first to his second start, Wild Ruler is a very exciting colt and he has got bigger fish to fry.
“I think he has another level in him and I think he will be even better in the autumn. He probably does not have the ‘ring power’ for an Everest yet, but against his own age over six furlongs, good to see that he ticked that box today, I think the Coolmore looks the logical way to go. He is going the right way; I hope he can keep progressing.”
Wild Ruler’s performance was the highlight of an exceptional weekend of results for China Horse Club. The striking colt was part of a quartet of winners across three major racing centres having been joined on the winners’ podium by the Singapore based duo Made In Russia and Overcoming as well as the talent ladened Nashville posting his second big margin win in as many starts in the United States. The runner of Britain’s time honoured G1 Dewhurst Stakes also saw a boost to the Club’s breeding arm with a brother to stakes winning mare Sapa Inca finishing second in the prestigious contest.
It can be easy to hyperbolize the potential of a racehorse early in their career and this is an obstacle that Nashville now faces after a soaring performance in an Allowance race at Keeneland (USA) over the weekend. The boom colt has now won his only two starts by a combined 21.25 lengths and looks every inch a star in the making. However, this talent still needs fostering, ring craft is still being accumulated and the mental fragility of a racehorse can easily be overcooked.
“Nashville is a highly exciting talent and he has produced good figures again from his win but there is a long way to go yet to get to the big time,” said Michael Wallace, China Horse Club’s Chief Operating Officer.
“We have to remember that he won an allowance race. We have handled him patiently and will continue to do so as we go forward. [Nashville] has exited his race well. We will monitor him for a week and start to format a plan for his next spot.”
Made in Russia and Overcoming produced storming finishes at Kranji Racecourse to continue the Club’s form in the Asian racing centre. A fortnight after Grand Koonta touched out fellow China Horse Club runner Karisto, Made In Russia and Overcoming delivered a ‘one-two’ punch of their own.
“It was great to see Made In Russia return to the winners’ circle, he certainly deserved that,” said China Horse Club’s Michael Smith.
“He had a few niggling things but Lee Freedman has been patient with him and he again demonstrated his talent. He settled worse than midfield and really worked diligently in the straight to get over the top of his rivals.
“And Overcoming was fantastic. It was great to see a plan come off. James Peters has had Overcoming in good form since the resumption of racing but he doesn’t like being caught up between runners. He had some room today and he really ran on for a strong win.”
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