Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott unveiled an impressive Gimcrack Stakes arsenal when Sydney hosted its first set of two-year-old trials on Monday morning.
The seven-time Golden Slipper winner and her training partner had runners in all four fillies 850m trials and had three winners, including the filly who clocked the fastest time for the day.
Perfect Proposal, a daughter of Russian Revolution out of a sister to Alinghi who cost $420,000 at this year’s Inglis Easter Yearling Sale, went 51.06 to win the first fillies’ trial on the Soft 6 track.
I Am Invincible filly Sicilian, a $650,000 Magic Millions buy, won the second trial in 51.38, which was just 0.02 seconds faster than $600,000 Millions yearling Platinum Jubilee, who is by Zoustar, went to win the third trial for the girls.
Tim Clark has played a role in the education of the Waterhouse/Bott team and the jockey was taken by the performance of Platinum Jubilee, a half-sister to Queen Of The Ball.
“She’s a lovely filly and she’s probably made the most improvement from when we had the jumpouts here a couple of weeks ago,” Clark said.
“She did a few things wrong then but that’s really brought her on and she was really good there today and ran good time later in the morning when the track is getting a little bit chopped up.”
James McDonald partnered Sicilian, but Clark rode Perfect Proposal and nominated her as the pick of the Gimcrack Stakes-bound team.
“She’s put her hand up all the way and she’s been really nice from Day 1,” Clark said.
“She’s put the time on the board and probably done it in the best style, I felt, so she’s probably put her hand up as maybe the leading contender at the moment.”
Waterhouse and Bott also produced Zelta to finish third in the final fillies’ trial with the daughter of Snitzel working home strongly from the rear of the field to finish third, beaten just over half-a-length by the Michael Freedman-trained Just Gisella in 52.20 seconds.
It wasn’t just fillies Waterhouse and Bott made an impression with, with Brazen Beau colt Tarabeau turning in a dominant display to win the final colts and geldings’ trial by two lengths in a time of 51.94secs.
The fastest colt for the morning was the Peter and Paul Sowden-trained Don Corleone, a son of Extreme Choice who the China Horse Club and Newgate snapped up for $650,000 as a weanling, who went 51.19secs in Trial 1.
Other winners of the colts and geldings trials were Michael Freedman’s Exceed And Excel colt Mach Ten (51.97secs), the Gary Portelli-trained Flying Trapeze (52.38secs), Ozzmosis (51.38secs) for Bjorn Baker and the Annabel Neasham-trained Fameux (51.92secs).
Most of Monday’s standout performers are bound for Sydney’s first juvenile races of the season at Randwick on October 1 with the girls to contest the 2022 Gimcrack Stakes and the boys the Breeders Plate. Both races are 1000m Group 3 events worth $200,000.