Winner: Playing God (Blackfriars-Dolly Will Do)
Race: WATC Western Australian Guineas G2 (160m)
Sold for: $27,000
Sale: 2009 Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale
Vendor: Durham Lodge
Buyer: Parnham’s Racing Stable
Earnings: $256,100
Owner(s): Cockatoo Ridge Synciate (Mgr: CW Loxton)
Trainer: Neville Parnham (Ascot)
Playing God completed a rare feature race double in Perth today when he crushed his rivals in the Group Two $250,000 Western Australian Guineas (1600m) at Ascot.
He captured the day’s big race – less than two hours after his year older full brother God Has Spoken won the Group Three RJ Peters Stakes.
An unlucky runner-up at his previous outing in the listed Fairetha Stakes, Playing God tracked the eventual third placegetter Hoegaarden to the straight and then was able to sweep past that runner for a comprehensive success.
Lauradane came with a run toward the inside of the track to snatch second place and make it a trifecta result for Magic Millions Yearling Sale graduates.
The pair of godly gallopers – just three and four-year-olds – were purchased for a combined cost of $68,000 – as of tonight they have won connections a staggering $865,050.
The win capped a memorable day for Neville Parnham – four winners on the card – interestingly all of them Magic Millions graduates.
Playing God was purchased by Parnham for Colin Loxton’s Cockatoo Ridge Syndicate for $27,000 at last year’s Perth Yearling Sale at Belmont.
“It’s been a great day and I got the two important ones I wanted,” Parnham said. “Both of them have performed so well.”
“This horse was set for the Guineas after running in the Sires’ earlier in the year.”
“I couldn’t have been happier with him during the preparation. His trial was brilliant, his first up win was brilliant and I don’t think luckwent our way the other day when he ran second.”
“He’d been three weeks between runs and I wanted to leave a little bit in the tank for this race.”
“I think he’s a pretty smart horse,” Parnham said of Playing God. “I’m not sure if he’ll be as good as God Has Spoken, but he’s probably got a better turn of foot.”
“It was a good ride from Steve. We wanted him to track up whatever he could. Pre-race he was hoping to following up Hoegaarden and that is the way it went and it was a good result all round.”
“As much as I thought he could win last start, I knew he wasn’t at peak fitness and I just thought he’d really come forward from that race and into the Guineas.”
Like his older brother, Playing God is set to be tested at racing’s elite level.
“At this stage I’m hoping to run him in the Kingston Town – three-year-olds get in reasonably well in the race (weight-wise).”
“We’ll just see how it all comes together over the next week weeks. In the immediately future he’ll probably run in the Aquanita (Stakes),” he summed up.
Playing God and God Has Spoken were both bred and sold at the Magic Millions Perth Yearling Sale by the Smith family’s Durham Lodge.
The Durham Lodge team are preparing a draft of 28 for Febuary’s 2011 Perth Yearling Sale – 14 of them by Blackfriars – the sire of today’s group winning siblings.
