Untapped two-year-old Phenomenal Lass has already beaten the odds to get to the racetrack but trainer Paul Murray and owner George Holz aren't resting on their laurels just yet. Phenomenal Lass, a debut winner at Randwick, giving Murray his first Saturday success at headquarters, was left an orphan as a foal.
Holz paid $3500 for Phenomenal, a mare formerly owned by Jack and Bob Ingham, in foal to Country Reel and after her impressive first-up win he has increased the insurance on the filly. "I hadn't heard of the sire and we were really just hoping for a horse that would win at Kembla," Holz said. "She has already exceeded our expectations, so we are just going to enjoy it now."
Holz revealed that Phenomenal died three months after foaling Phenomenal Lass, but that hasn't counted against his two-year-old, which was nursed along by a foster mare and Murray's partner Michelle Ritchie.
"[Phenomenal] always had dodgy fetlocks and had been going lame before the accident," Holz said. "It was about three months after she foaled and the cows went through a fence and [Phenomenal] got tangled up in the barbed wire. Fortunately the filly didn't get caught in it. There was really nothing we could do for [Phenomenal] and had to put her down."
Holz immediately set about securing a foster mare for Phenomenal Lass and prominent owner and breeder John Cornish came to the party. "John Cornish gave us Our Vain Hope to look after the foal," Holz said. "She ran around in the paddock with her new mum straight away and they were both still on the property when EI [equine influenza] hit.
"They couldn't go anywhere, so they were vaccinated and waited it out. When Phenomenal Lass went to the stable Our Vain Hope had to go with her."
Murray said Ritchie fell in love with Phenomenal Lass the first time she saw her. "She did all the work with her to break her in and separating her from her mum," he said.
With the early drama in her life behind Phenomenal Lass, it was left to Murray, a son of top Kembla Grange trainer Bede Murray, to set about preparing her for her racetrack debut.
He sent her to Kembla Grange where she impressed in winning a barrier trial then nominated her for a Randwick two-year-olds' race in which Gai Waterhouse had a dominant odds-on favourite, Power Personified.
With Glyn Schofield aboard and starting at the knockout odds of $41, Phenomenal Lass stormed to victory on November 22 and Murray was left with little option but to push on with another city start.
"She reminds me of Victory Vein and like her she just continues to improve," said Murray, referring to Bede's former classy performer which ran second in a Golden Slipper before winning the AJC Sires' Produce Stakes and Champagne Stakes.
Murray said Phenomenal Lass had come on in leaps and bounds since her victory, prompting him to start her again in Saturday's Wests Ashfield Handicap with Schofield aboard. "We were going to give her three weeks between runs but she did that well we decided to start her this weekend," he said. "She is not nominated for the Golden Slipper but if she was to win on Saturday, you would have to start thinking about it and target one of those lead-up races."
The emergence of Phenomenal Lass as a potential top-line performer for Murray has boosted his stable, which already includes Takeover Target's half-brother Predatory Pricer.
During his initial preparation Predatory Pricer won three of six starts, including the Ming Dynasty Quality and Gloaming Stakes, while he was group 1 placed when second in the Spring Champion Stakes.
"He put on 35 kilograms and is just thicker all over," Murray said of Predatory Pricer's recent spell. "We always thought he would benefit from a spell and he has. He is bigger and better and it will be interesting to see how the other three-year-olds come up.
"We are looking at the AJC Australian Derby with him but we might test him at a mile against weight-for-age company, as well. They are nice options to have."
Murray was heartened to see former world champion sprinter Takeover Target resume with a Winterbottom Stakes win in Perth last week, with Predatory Pricer being a valuable stud proposition given his relationship with that star. "There has been some offers before for Predatory Pricer to stand at stud but that will be up to the owners to decide in time," he said. "He has a bit of racing left in him yet."
As for Phenomenal Lass, Murray said: "She was just a little country horse when she came into the stable and has just developed naturally. Being brought up in a paddock she had a long way to go when she got here but I think it has helped her because she has been able to come on at her own pace."
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff