SAME connections, same colours - but a different horse!
It was a victory well timed.
Kembla Grange trainer Kerry Parker won the Royal Randwick opener on Saturday at the Winx Stakes meeting he has pretty much become accustomed to.
Parker had been there three of the previous four years with his now retired stable ace Think It Over - two of them for the Group 1 Winx Stakes – and all at 1400m.
On this occasion it wasn’t quite the same distance, but it didn’t matter.
Parker landed the Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1200m) with his lightly-raced four-year-old Well Timed, who also carries the royal blue and orange colours of $8.5m earner Think It Over’s owner Richard Johnston.
Ridden by Nash Rawiller, who formed a great association with Think It Over by partnering him in eight of his 14 wins (including that memorable daring ride which landed a $41 upset 2022 Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Randwick), the $3.40 favorite Well Timed made it three wins and as many placings from only nine starts.
A homebred by Nicconi, the gelding is the first foal of the unraced Fastnet Rock mare Clock Watcher.
Whereas Think It Over had begun new campaigns at each of three Winx Stakes meetings in 2020, 2021 and 2023 (being narrowly beaten in a Benchmark 88 Handicap at the first one and then finishing sixth in the Group 1 itself at the last two), Well Timed was having his second start this preparation.
He had finished second to Bundeena (whom he turned the tables on this time with a 2kg turnaround) in a similar race over a slightly shorter 1100m at Randwick on August 10.
Whilst obviously Well Timed isn’t being spoken of in the same comparison as his illustrious former stablemate, Parker has high hopes for the gelding.
“We haven’t found his ceiling yet,” he said on Saturday evening.
“The aim this preparation is to get his benchmark rating up.
“I’m sure he will eventually run a ‘mile’ (1600m), but I’m in no hurry to do that.
“We’ll look for another suitable race in the coming weeks.”
Parker has taken his time with Well Timed, who raced only twice in his first season.
He debuted in town when a close sixth at $101 in a 2YO Maiden Handicap (1000m) on the Kensington track on March 8 last year, then was runner-up in a 2YO Maiden Plate (1000m) at his home track on July 20.
Well Timed broke through at his fifth start when resuming at Nowra in an 1100m Maiden Plate on February 24 this year, and won again at Hawkesbury in a Midway Benchmark 64 Handicap (1100m) on March 9 before finishing third in a Provincial-Midway Championships Qualifier (1400m) at his home track a fortnight later.
Unfortunately, Parker didn’t get the chance to qualify the gelding for the $1m Final (1400m) at Randwick when he was a late withdrawal after kicking out at the barrier prior to the running of the Wild Card at Newcastle and suffered abrasions to his hind legs.
. HOOFNOTE: Parker expects to have the opportunity to train a relation to Well Timed.
Owner Richard Johnston has bred a half-sister (by Hellbent) to the gelding, who has been named Straight To Hell.
“She has just turned two years of age, and has been broken in,” Parker said. “I understand she will be coming to me.”
Story John Curtis, August 25, 2024 - Pics Bradley Photos
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