Nepotism has emerged from the shadows of his legendary bloodlines to establish himself as a genuine talent, capturing the Champagne Stakes at Randwick in dramatic fashion on Saturday.
The two-year-old colt, related to Australian racing icon Black Caviar, stormed home from last under jockey Tyler Schiller to win his maiden Group 1 in just his third race start. His performance backed up an impressive victory in the Group 3 Baillieu (1400m) earlier this month.
Starting as the $3.90 favourite, Nepotism surged past Within The Law ($4.80) to win by a head, with Tupakara ($16) close behind in third. It was a thrilling finish that underlined the colt’s serious ability.
By Brutal, the 2019 Doncaster Mile winner trained by the same team, and out of Brigite—Black Caviar’s half-sister and full sibling to All Too Hard—Nepotism was always bred for greatness. Now he’s proving it on the track.
Trainer Michael Hawkes said he knew the horse had a powerful turn of foot but still wasn’t sure he’d get there in time.
“He’s just a proper horse,” Hawkes said.
“When he was out the back, they were running along and I was just thinking, ‘wow, are they going hard enough?’”
“The only thing I said to Tyler was, ‘you’re going to have to slice and dice and try to come up through them.’ He came around the corner and I thought, ‘is he going to get there?’”
“But he’s just blistering. He’s got an exceptional turn of foot. Last to first, unbelievable.”
After making his debut in the Todman Stakes, Nepotism has come of age quickly, rewarding the faith of his patient connections.
“His win in the Baillieu was just outstanding,” Hawkes added.
“I just love making colts. It’s just one thing we just love doing.”
The Champagne Stakes win was the third Group 1 success of the Hawkes team’s autumn campaign, following victories by Devil Night in the Blue Diamond Stakes and Briasa in the TJ Smith Stakes.
Schiller guided the colt expertly through traffic before finding clear running room late.
“Michael said don’t loop them because he can’t win if you do from the 600m,” Schiller said.
“So I was waiting to cut the corner but Federalist was going nowhere in front of us.”
“It was an incredible win. I felt like he peaked at the 100m but he just had that tenacity to win.”
