Blackfriars stretched his lead at the top of the WA sires’ premiership when Playing God earned $307,000 for winning this year’s G1 Kingston Town Classic.
Blackfriars, a G1 Victorian Derby winning son of Danehill, holds across-the-board leads in Western Australia with a third of the current season gone. The Durham Lodge resident has sired 24 winners of 35 races with earnings of $1.33 million.
Next best on the Sunspeed table are Oratorio (Aus) and Bletchley Park down in the $600K bracket.
Playing God (4h Blackfriars – Dolly Will Do by Rubiton) was a $27,000 purchase from Durham Lodge at the 2009 Perth Magic Millions for a syndicate headed by Colin Loxton.
Playing God won the Kingston Town for the second year in a row for the father-son team of Neville and Stephen Parnham. He was allowed to go out at $19 after mixing form in Melbourne and back home in the Railway Stakes two weeks ago.
“I was probably the only one who didn’t write him off,” trainer Neville Parnham said. “I sent him down to my farm and he’s been in a paddock and down at the beach.
“They weren’t making ground so we planned to run closer to the speed. He got across and relaxed. Steven rode him perfectly.”
Playing God was the WA Horse of the Year in 2010-11 and a second award is well within reach, especially if he can improve on the thirds he ran in this year’s G1 Australian Guineas and G1 Australian Cup at Flemington.
Deceased Durham champion Scenic made it a double for the Muchea nursery when his sprinter Grand Nirvana won the G3 Scahill Stakes at Ascot.
Grand Nirvana is part-owned and trained by Fred Kersley for Oakland Park manager Neville Duncan. He has won 11 races – 6 at G3 and 5 at LR level.