Admiral set up another championship season with a four length demolition of a quality field in the LR Tasmanian Guineas (1600m) on Sunday.
The son of Vinery sire Mossman was Tasmania’s 2YO Champion in 2013-14 and he’s a class above that State’s current crop of three year-olds.
Admiral (3g Mossman – Reunification by West Quest) started an odds-on favourite and was always travelling like a winner until the home turn in Hobart. When slipped into another gear by regular rider Brendon McCoull, he accelerated for a consummate victory that had trainer Barry Campbell counting his options.
“We will go to the Hobart Guineas (2100m) to see whether we push on to the Tasmanian Derby,” Campbell said. “Or we will freshen him up and head to the weight-for-age Thomas Lyons (1400m) on Hobart Cup day before a possible trip to Melbourne.”
Admiral is part-owned by Campbell’s sister-in-law Denise Martin of Star Thoroughbreds and she is keen to test him against the nation’s best three year-olds in the G1 Australian Guineas at Flemington in March.
Years ago, Martin bought a Jetball yearling filly in New Zealand for $20,000 that was eventually named, Entally, after one of Tasmania’s most historic houses.
While in Tasmania with Gai Waterhouse to support injured jockey Bev Buckingham, Martin was able to divide Entally among some of those attending the charity luncheon.
Entally was handy without being brilliant winning two races and placing on numerous occasions in Tasmania. She proved to be a much more worthy broodmare with stakes placegetters National Trust and Reunification among her five foals.
“Barry trained Entally and Reunification who was a grand mare. She won about 12 races and won $190,000,” Martin explained. “When she retired to stud, she produced her first foal — an unusually named colt by Elvstroem called Spud’s Pride.
“He won a couple of starts in Tassie and looked very promising and then in the middle of last year went to Sandown and very sadly died mid-race.
“The man who bought Reunificaiton for breeding was a local businessman named Dudley Clark and he wanted to develop his own training complex out of Hobart,” Martin went on. “We got talking and I said Reunification deserved a chance in the Hunter Valley.
“I recommended Mossman because he’s an underrated horse and a really terrific sire. I told Dudley, ‘He’s moderately priced and and I think he’s a horse that would produce a nice racehorse for you. And if it’s a gelding, they can train on till their seven or eight, they are really solid horses that like the wet.’
“Unfortunately Dudley never saw Admiral because he was very ill with cancer and sold Reunification in foal to Mossman to a great friend of mine Bruno Calabro.
“Bruno asked me if I’d like to race the Mossman with him and another couple of friends. I said, ‘yes please’. Now he looks a very talented racehorse.”
Mossman is marshalling a Group 1 strike-force for the autumn carnivals with Golden Slipper Stakes winner Mossfun leading the team. Co-trainer Michael Hawkes said it was still too early to pin-point a particular race but all the feature sprints in Melbourne and Sydney are in the mix.
“Mossfun had a good break after that virus in the spring and is thriving,” Hawkes reported. “She looks magnificent and has grown a bit taller and a lot stronger.”
Mossman’s champion sprinter Buffering is having a break in readiness for another campaign after finishing sixth in the G1 Hong Kong Sprint last month. “He started spelling at the Werribee quarantine centre and will rest for another three weeks before returning to work,” trainer Rob Heathcote said. “He was off his game in Hong Kong and we’ve ruled out any further overseas campaigns.”
Heathcote bought a close relation to Buffering for $75,000 at the Magic Millions on Thursday. The Mossman – Hussyanna yearling colt (Lot 319) is from a winning half-sister to his grand campaigner who has won 16 races and $4.88 million.
ADMIRAL
Mossman three year-old wins the LR Tasmanian Guineas by four lengths