BARGAIN buy Shoot Out, declared a potential champion by jockey Stathi Katsidis, silenced the critics with a terrific win in the $1.3 million AJC Australian Derby, 2400m, at Randwick, on Saturday.
The win was a triumph for Gold Coast trainer John Wallace who decided to head to the Derby rather than take the option of running Shoot Out, $4.80, in the Doncaster Mile, which most of the supposed good judges declared was a more ideal goal.
Katsidis, who played a strong hand in convincing Wallace to make some gear changes and take the Derby path, bounced back from the disappointment of riding beaten favorite, Military Rose, in the Golden Slipper a week earlier.The Derby was just as much a success story for the sire, High Chaparral, which produced the first three placegetters – Shoot Out, Descarado and Monaco Consul.
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High Chaparral, a high class galloper in his own right, stood in New Zealand at Windsor Park and his first crop have now won the Group One Spring Champion Stakes, Victoria Derby (Monaco Consul), Cox Plate (So You Think), Randwick Guineas (Shoot Out) and now the AJC Derby. He will return to Australasia to stand at Coolmore in the Hunter Valley, NSW. Katsidis brought Shoot Out from near last in a muddling run race and the three-year-old really sprinted hard the last 200m to race away and won by a length and a half from the Gai Waterhouse-trained Descarado which was gallant in defeat. Favorite Zabrasive could not sprint with the winner and tired to finish fourth while the New Zealander Monaco Consul, well backed at good odds, charged home for third. An emotional Wallace declared: “He might be any sort of horse later on. But I think he is still a dumb bugger. It was a great ride and he is a great horse I think. “He was always a nice horse, but the owner picked him, I had nothing to do with it. She obviously is a good judge. Shoot Out was purchased by Linda Huddy at the 2008 Magic Millions Yearling Sales on the Gold Coast for $15,000. She races the horse with her husband Graham. The Mt Isa based couple wanted a stayer, ‘something with either Zabeel or Pentire blood’ and she was attracted to the Sadler’s Wells bloodline of Shoot Out’s sire High Chaparral. The Pentire blood comes from is dam Pentamerous. The Derby win took Shoot Out’s earnings to almost $1.35 million. He has won five of his 11 starts with two seconds. Wallace, who has been training for almost half a century, has now won two Group Ones with Shoot Out. His previous G1 success was with Mother of Pearl in the 1982 Queensland Oaks. He is hoping that Shoot Out can develop into a Cups horse in the spring.
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