A name change, a gelding operation, and a fourth trainer, seems to have done the trick for The Awesome Son, a $900,000 three-quarter brother to Arrowfield Stud’s 5-time Group 1 winner The Autumn Sun.
Purchased by Aquis Farm for that princely amount at the 2019 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, The Awesome Son tested the patience of Chris Waller, Annabel Neasham, and Kacy Fogden before finding a home with Julius Sandhu.
Then named Foscolo, he barrier trialled eight times without making a start.
Entered for the 2021 Inglis April (Late) Online Sale, Foscolo was bought by the Lofty Thoroughbred Group for $32,500.
Sporting a new name and sent to Julius Sandhu, The Awesome Son was a fast-finishing third on debut at Bendigo on June 20 and finished less than two lengths from the winner Seiners Express when seventh at Flemington three weeks later.
Sent off the short-priced favourite to break his maiden over 1600m on a bottomless track at Moe on Wednesday, The Awesome Son defeated the So You Think mare Only Guessing by a short-neck with a further short-half-head back to the 3yo Star Turn gelding Star Smash in third.
“I think we learned a few things about him today, he handled the surface well enough but probably doesn’t want a track like this again,” Sandhu told Racing.com.
“He doesn’t seem to be able to corner and move on, he came off the bit early, and he only started lengthening when he straightened up.
“He did the same thing at Flemington, so all indications suggest we want to put him on a nice big track with a nice long straight and give him time to balance and hit the line.
“We will take the win, for now, go home and assess and see where we go from there.”
The dam of The Awesome Son and The Autumn Sun, the Galileo mare Azmiyna (IRE), was sent to Japan in 2019 for a date with Deep Impact before returning to The Aga Khan’s Gilltown Stud in Ireland where she foaled a filly.
