Warmonger, I Wish I Win Victorious Down Under

Warmonger tumbled in the betting for both the Melbourne Cup (G1) and Caulfield Cup (G1) and brought a first top-tier success for his unheralded South Island sire War Decree when he became the fourth straight New Zealand-bred to win the Queensland Derby (G1)—in some phenomenal style—June 1. Living up to his name, this was no mere win but a shell-shocking blitz, a demolition unmatched for breathtaking ease since another stayer lit up the tracks of Brisbane three years ago, by the name of Incentivise. While that gelding burst to national prominence with a 12-length group 3 success over the same course in 2021, this one outstripped him for prestige, if not quite in margin, by streaking away with the $1 million group 1 Classic by an emphatic 10.4 lengths. Now bearing OTI's colors, the Kevin Hickman-bred Warmonger transferred to Mick Price and Michael Kent Jr's Cranbourne stable last year in a private sale following an impressive barrier trial at Ashburton, having been a AU$75,000 New Zealand Bloodstock Karaka yearling, who went on to make AU$165,000 at the same house's Ready to Run sale. Taking almost another year to debut, he won a Mornington maiden second up last October, before tasting success for the first time in Flemington's Batman Stakes at his next run last Melbourne Cup day, to become War Decree's second black-type winner amid three crops running. Warmonger didn't score in his next five starts but the last of those—a fast-finishing 1.3 length second in last month's South Australian Derby (G1) hinted at his staying potential. Still, he went to the gates for his first clockwise run on Saturday as an easing $10 chance—still third elect, but far behind $2.35 hotpot Autumn Angel and China Horse Club's Tannhauser at $4.60. Yet he made a mockery of his rivals as if this were his tenth top-flight success, not his first. Drawn the widest gate of 18 for Blake Shinn, Warmonger was three wide and pushing forward around the turn out of the straight, and Shinn was happy to stay there. While Craig Williams appeared to don his Declan Bates suit on Navy King, dashing out to a 10-length lead by the 800 meters, Shinn took Warmonger to the front of the peloton three-and-four wide down the side, as the group drifted off the fence to find better ground. On a deteriorating soft 6 track, Navy King was entitled to stop, and it was no surprise when he did. But despite his wide passage, Warmonger didn't so much cart the field up as virtually cartwheel into the lead, pinging to the front at the 400 meters, and keeping on going like he could have run another lap. At the post he was more than 30 meters ahead of Andrew Forsman's cross-Tasman raider Moonlight Magic, completing a juicy Kiwi-bred quinella at $26, with Tony Gollan's Felix The Scat adding trifecta value three lengths further back in third at $61. "What a great run by that horse. He did it the tough way but he was comfortable. I just wanted to make sure he kept going on his run. He did it tough," said Shinn, who was recording his 29th Group 1 success. "It was a bit of a track gallop for him. He had his ears pricked down the back. He did it the tough way but he was comfortable. "I asked him to extend from the 500 and he just kept building. I made sure he kept going to the line, but the horse really deserved it." Kingsford Smith I Wish I Win (NZ) silenced his doubters when he broke through for his second group 1 success Saturday in Eagle Farm's Kingsford-Smith Cup (G1), gritting his teeth in an epic finish to turn the tables on his Doomben (G1) conqueror Bella Nipotina (AUS). The son of Waikato Stud's all-conquering titan Savabeel (AUS) has been one of the major stories of the Australasian turf for the past three years; the former crocked foal, born with a bizarrely angled foreleg, who rose to become a sprinting sensation. But while he has shown his high class since a cross-Tasman transfer to Peter Moody's stable in mid-2022—with eight-figure earnings and four victories including Rosehill's $10 million Golden Eagle—the rising six-year-old hadn't saluted the judge since April last year. Though he'd had only four more outings since that initial top-tier victory in Randwick's TJ Smith Stakes (G1), his two seconds and two thirds had led some to ask whether his finest days were behind him, even if one runner-up medal was earned in October's The Everest. I Wish I Win raised some more eyebrows when he was unable to get past Ciaron Maher's gritty mare Bella Nipotina in the Doomben 10,000, going down by the barest of margins under James McDonald, who'd partnered him for the first time the start before when a 0.34 length third in this year's TJ Smith. On Saturday, however, with Moody's old partner Luke Nolen back in the saddle—after his controversial recent replacement by McDonald—it was vintage I Wish I Win, as the flashy black gelding prevailed by 0.4 lengths. It was vintage Nolen as well, as he neatly lifted his 40th career group 1 and Moody's 60th, three of which have now come in his partnership with Katherine Coleman. I Wish I Win had what was on this occasion the misfortune to draw barrier one. While Nolen had settled midfield on the fence amid a tepid pace set by distance doubt Uncommon James (Cable Bay), he managed to fulfil orders by easing six runners wide around the home turn, while the field deserted the rail. After a brief bumping duel with Magic Time to his outside, I Wish I Win found clear air at the 300-metre mark, only to also find Bella Nipotina and Craig Williams flying to the lead up an inside run. Switching sides from their Doomben duel, the pair drew close together to fight a second torrid weight-for-age battle. This time the gelding—with blinkers added and nose roll removed—refused to be denied.