The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott-trained Converge (Frankel-Conversely, by Shamardal) will likely start favourite for Saturday’s final juvenile Gr1 of the season, the A$1m Treasury Brisbane J.J. Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm after drawing well in barrier 5.
Frankel –
If successful, he will become the first Australian Gr1-winning 2YO by his Champion Sire Frankel (Galileo), already the sire of 14 individual Gr1 winners including fellow Australian-raced Hungry Heart (Frankel-Harlech, by Pivotal), winner of the Vinery Stud Stakes and ATC Oaks, both at Gr1 level.
Successful on debut back in December, the Evergreen Rich-bred and raced gelding captured the Listed Fernhill Handicap three starts later before finishing third in the Gr1 Champagne Stakes, beaten less than 2-lengths by Captivant (Capitalist).
After just over a month since his Gr1 performance, Converge produced an outstanding performance to come from the tail of the field after being held up to rattle home and finish a narrow second behind Tiger Of Malay (Extreme Choice-Sambar, by More Than Ready) in the Gr2 Sires’ Produce Stakes, a traditional led up race to the J.J. Atkins – a colt he will meet again this Saturday.
