Still basking in the glow of Tuesday’s Melbourne Cup win with star mare Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed), the Chris Waller stable was back in the winner’s stall in the opening race at Rosehill, albeit it on a smaller scale.
Improving young stayer Suppression (NZ) (Mongolian Khan) made it two victories in succession with a good staying effort for Tommy Berry in Saturday’s XXXX Handicap (2400m), wearing down Herman Hesse (Frankel) to score by a neck, with the winner’s stablemate Fortified (NZ) (Ocean Park) a distant third.
With Waller in Melbourne, stable representative Charlie Duckworth said the trainer’s team was still buzzing from Verry Elleegant’s success in Australia’s most famous race.
“It has just been a real privilege to work with these horses that are just turning up on all the right days and on the main stage,” Duckworth said.
“It’s really special for all the staff. Everyone is just absolutely buzzing. It’s a bit of a liberty getting paid for these weeks.”
By triple Group One winner Mongolian Khan, Suppression remains a work in progress and Duckworth says they are still trying to coax the four-year-old to settle better in his races.
Despite his manners, Saturday’s victory was his third from 12 starts and if he can learn to harness his energy, Duckworth has no doubt Suppression can develop into a handy stayer.
“All three past the post – first, second and third – are progressive horses,” Duckworth said.
“It’s a massive amount of prizemoney to win on a Saturday, as it is each and every Saturday, so we’ll just chip away and see how we go but he’s an exciting horse with plenty of potential.
“He is obviously a genuine stayer but if he relaxes, he’s going to progress. It’s going to be how well he can relax to ensure how far he gets. It’s down to him now but it was a pretty tough win.”
Berry confirmed that the stayer had good ability, but needed to relax better in the run.
“He dropped the bit alright from halfway around and that is probably what helped him finish off the way he did,” Berry said.
“He was very wayward down the straight but once he knuckled down over the last 100m, he was never going to get beaten.”
Suppression was a $100,000 purchase from the New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale from the draft of Regal Farm and was snapped up by Waller’s bloodstock agent Guy Mulcaster.
There are five lots by Windsor Park Stud stallion Mongolian Khan in this year’s Ready To Run Sale, which will take place as a virtual sale on November 17 and 18 at Te Rapa.
