Safeguard is flying at the top of this season’s WA 2YO Sires’ Premiership with gun youngster Castle Road and he’s also making inroads with a 4yo crop that added another notch on Boxing Day with Chop Suey at Pinjarra.

Chop Suey was bred by Ridgeport Farm’s Santo Guagliardo from a small Safeguard crop of just 20 named foals in the spring of 2000 at Mogumber Park.  But the lack of numbers in that book hasn’t stymied their success with 11 individual winners of 25 races so far in 2024-25.

Safeguard struck earlier this season with Ridgeport-bred graduate Miss Flirtacious who was an on-pace winner at Belmont in September.  She doubled up at Ascot last month after shadowing front-runner Snow Prince (Safeguard) in the Drummond Golf Hcp (1200m).

Chop Suey made a mere $18,000 out of the Ridgeport draft to the 2022 Perth Magic Millions and his part-owners aren’t about to complain.  He knocked off that price-tag winning a Pinjarra maiden in June and Muchea trainer Justine Erkelens reckons there’s much more improvement in the lightly-raced gelding.

Erkelens prepares and part-owns him with Mike Biggs and Kim McDonald.  “He was only cheap and it was a good buy at the price,” she recalled.  “We always knew he had ability but his first campaign was a bit messy.  He’s just coming good and he toughed it out yesterday for Shaun (O’Donnell).”

Chop Suey (Safeguard) and Cessation (Sessions) broke clear down the straight course before O’Donnell coaxed a final effort to defeat the favourite in the Tyrepower Hcp (1000m).

His dam Radiant Lady (Tickets) won twice on the south-west and is now two-from-two at stud alongside last month’s Belmont 3yo maiden winner Caporetto (Rommel).  The mare’s most recent foals are both by Ridgeport sire Rommel – an unraced 2yo named Radiant Light and a filly foal that arrived in October.