The Ridgemont owned and bred Whoa Whoa Whoa rounded off a terrific week for the Kieswetter family Robertson operation when she followed up her Durbanville debut success a month earlier, sauntering home in impressive style to win her second start at Kenilworth on Saturday.
As he had done when the Ridgemont Australian-bred Snitzel brother-sister duo of Stiptelik and Real Gone Kid impressed at the same course on Wednesday, Ridgemont jockey Anton Marcus did the riding honours on Whoa Whoa Whoa, and he was again suitably impressed.
Anton Marcus steers Whoa Whoa Whoa (Maurice) to an easy victory (Pic – Brett Crawford Racing)
Whoa Whoa was a first SA winner in September for her Japanese-bred champion racehorse, now sire, Maurice (Screen Hero-Mejiro Frances, by Carnegie), and she received a nice pedigree boost when the former champion racehorse sired his first Australian stakes winner on the same day.
Maurice flagged his undoubted potential last season when his first crop of 2YOs produced six individual stakes-performers from March to June.
The half-dozen included Mazu, Maurice’s Medad, Invincible Tears, Morioka, Port Louis and Belmaurice.
Fittingly, Mazu, who was the first to earn Black type, became his sire’s first Australian stakes-winner when winning the Listed Brian Crowley Stakes at Randwick just hours before Whoa Whoa Whoa stormed home, with a performance that suggests bigger targets lie in wait.
Maurice in track action (Pic – JRA)
Mazu was an A$180,000 Classic Yearling Sale buy for Triple Crown Syndications from the draft of his breeder Parsons Creek Pastoral for Marc and Lindy de Stoop.
“I’m so happy he’s produced what he has today. It’s certainly a shandy of what he has to offer but we’ll take it anyway,” winning co-trainer Paul Snowden said.
“I think racing is going to get it [the best] out of him. But look, he’s a strong enough character and he’s got plenty there to give.”
Bred in Australia by local champion outfit Ridgemont Highlands, who also race her, Whoa Whoa Whoa is by Japan’s 2015 Horse of the Year, six-time Gr1 winner and $12 million earner and is out of the eight-time winning Fast ‘n Famous mare Whats New Pussycat – also the dam of Ridgemont’s exciting undefeated Kitty Cat Chat – a daughter of Press Statement.
She looks to be yet another Ridgemont-bred to follow!
