Winner: Shoot Out (High Chaparral-Pentamerous by Pentire)
Race: AJC Australian Derby G1 (2400m)
Sold for: $15,000
Sale: 2008 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale
Vendor: Oaklands Stud
Buyer: Linda Huddy
Earnings: $1,364,200
Owner(s): GL & Mrs LF Huddy
Trainer: John Wallace (Gold Coast)
Shoot Out confirmed his place as Australia’s best current day bargain buy when he produced a brilliant sprint in the straight to win today’s $1.3 million Group One AJC Derby (2400m) at Royal Randwick.
A winner of the Randwick Guineas two runs back, Shoot Out was sent out the third favourite and came from well back in a slowly run race to win sensationally.
Jockey Stathi Katsidis was able to come between runners in the straight to reel in the leaders before switching off their heels to win going away.
Trainer John Wallace, who declared the horse the best he’d trained after winning his second start last year, wasn’t surprised with the outstanding performance.
The only worry Wallace had in the lead up to the race was whether he would run in the race or freshen him and instead target the Doncaster Mile.
“It took a bit of working out,” Wallace reported. “I kept looking at the replay (from his last start) the other day and he kept making ground.”
“And he never got beat far.”
And with the Derby now locked away – the future looks extremely bright for Shoot Out.
“He could be any sort of horse later on,” Wallace said. “He’s still a dumb bugger yet.”
“He settled pretty good and the jockey was very, very positive before he went on him today,” the top Gold Coast horseman added.
Wallace was happy with the way Stathi Katsidis handled the gelding during the feature Sydney blue riband.
“He’s a good jockey. It was a great ride and he’s a good horse I think.”
“It’s a big thrill. Some great champions have won this race. And good trainers – so I feel pretty humble.”
What does the future hold for Shoot Out? Well Wallace isn’t sure – but the sky certainly looks the limit.
“Maybe the Caulfield and Melbourne Cup who knows.”
Shoot Out is raced by Graham and Linda Huddy and it was Linda who selected and purchased him from the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for just $15,000. He was bred by the Stewart family’s Oaklands Stud near Toowoomba.
“He was always a nice horse. The owner picked him – I had nothing to do with it. So she’s obviously is a good judge.”
Huddy, as you could expect, was all smiles in the winner’s stall.
Why did she pick out and buy the son of High Chaparral.
“He was a QTIS horse,” she said. “He was a nice horse and he looked a stayer and I thought he might be nice and cheap at that sale.”
“It’s just absolutely fantastic,” she added while sending a cheerio to racegoers in her hometown of Mt Isa.
Katisidis said he went out for the Derby full of confidence riding a fit and classy staying prospect.
“I knew I had the horse there today,” he noted. “I just had to get him to relax and I still think he can relax a bit more – you’ll see in the run he still pulled quite hard.”
“He pulled for quite a bit of it but he was still too good for them only under hands and heels.”
“He’s very, very good.”
“He could be a champion,” Katsidis added. “That’s a word that is thrown around quite a lot, but he’s got the breeding and he’s won to 2400 now and I think he’ll be able to run two miles.”
“I’m really looking forward to the other classic races. I’ve always wanted to win a classic and this is my first,” he summed up.
Rival trainer John O’Shea, who saddled up the favourite and fourth placegetter Zabrasive, said there were no excuses for the others – describing the winner as “exceptional.”
Shoot Out’s dam, the winning Pentire mare Pentamerous, has been represented by just two runners – both of them group winners. Cassandara Shadow, a star performer Perth, is the other.
Cassandara Shadow will go under the hammer at the upcoming Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale at the Gold Coast in June.
The Johannesburg mare, just a four-year-old, won the Group Three Western Australian Oaks and earned $343,800 during a 27 starts career under the care of Shane Edwards.
