The $22,000 Scone yearling Rocketing By gave his loud and passionate ownership group the thrill of a lifetime when winning today’s $1m Inglis Sprint.
The scenes at Randwick will be remembered for years to come as the So You Think colt defeated some of Australia’s best 3YOs to announce himself a star in his own right.
At just his eighth start, the David Pfieffer-trained Rocketing By burst through the middle of the track to defeat last year’s Millennium winner Prime Star.
Multiple G1 winner Ole Kirk finished third, ahead of Dame Giselle.
Pfieffer teamed up with Ferguson Bloodstock at the 2019 Scone sale, purchasing Rocketing By for just $22,000 from the draft of Middlebrook Valley Lodge, who was offering the colt on behalf of Segenhoe Stud, who also bred the horse.
“The X-Rays weren’t presented at the sale so as a result of that we got a So You Think colt for $22,000. I took him home, gave him a few months in the paddock and then got him X-Rayed myself and he was perfect,’’ Pfieffer said.
“Look at him now – he’s a proper horse. He’s won almost $750,000, today he’s beaten a colt worth tens of millions of dollars and one of the best fillies in the land and he’s done it convincingly.
“It’s so exciting for this ownership group, they’re boisterous and a lot of fun and if I can guarantee one thing, it’s that they’ll have one heck of a night tonight!’’
Rocketing By will now target the $500,000 Inglis Dash at Flemington in three weeks.
Middlebrook’s Verna Metcalfe – who watched the race at Riverside Stables as inspections continued ahead of tomorrow’s Classic Yearling Sale – was ecstatic post-race.
“This is so great for Middlebrook, it’s so good to win a big Inglis race and I just couldn’t be any happier,’’ Metcalfe said.
“I want to give credit to Peter O’Brien at Segenhoe, he’s been a huge supporter of ours for a long time so I’m just thrilled for him and his team as well.
“It’s been another busy day here at Riverside and we’ve got some absolute crackers in our Classic draft so we can’t wait for the next three days for buyers to find their next Rocketing By in our draft.’’
Segenhoe’s Peter O’Brien added: “He was offered with high risk X-Rays at Scone but I’m so happy for David Pfieffer that he backed his judgment, this is a great team result for Segenhoe and Middlebrook and we look forward to watching Rocketing By keep on winning.’’
The Classic Yearling Sale begins at 10am tomorrow at Riverside.
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