Australian billionaire Terry Snow has built a world class equestrian empire at his Willinga Park property at Bawley Point on the South Coast of NSW which from this Thursday will host the nation’s best showjumpers for a four day show, but on Wednesday it was about the Willinga owned race horses with exciting prospect Willinga Rufio an impressive winner at Warwick Farm.
Trained by Mark Newnham, the four year-old son of Dundeel was returning from a spell and led his rivals a merry dance to score a commanding victory in the Benchmark 72 event over 1600m.
Perfectly rated in front by Tyler Schiller, Willinga Rufio sped away from the opposition to win by nearly three lengths in a dominant display.
Mark Newnham predicts a bright future for Willinga Rufio, but will be in no rush to push the gelding into stakes company just yet.
“He’s a very decent horse and some of his work after a little break has been exceptional and I think he will get to a really good level,” said Mark Newnham.
“You can still see that he’s not quite sure what he’s doing, but raw talent is getting the job done.
“We won’t aim too high just yet. We’ll keep taking him through his grades and keep earning a nice bit of prizemoney and then we can aim up at something a bit later in the carnival.”
Willinga Rufio was withdrawn from Inglis Easter by Arrowfield Stud and sold privately to Willinga Park and has already won over $150,000 in prizemoney with three wins and a second from four starts.
Bred by Arrowfield, Willinga Rufio is a full brother to South African Group I winner Atyaab and half-brother to stakes-winner Vesper being the sixth winner and final foal from multiple Group II winner Sylvaner, who was retired from stud duties last year.
A half-sister to Group I winner Centisle, Sylvaner comes from a family packed with Black Type performers and Willinga Rufio looks capable of adding further lustre to pedigree.
Footnote: Terry Snow and his wife Ginette were recently recognized for their generosity being named the inaugural winners of the Chuck Feeney Award for Philanthropy.
The award, presented by the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute, is named after the famous American philanthropist Chuck Feeney who gave away his entire $11 billion fortunate to Atlantic Philanthropies.
This prestigious award highlights the Snow family's dedication to providing support for innovative medical research in Australia.
Their support of the equestrian world will be highlighted this week at Willinga Park with four days of elite showjumping culminating in the $40,750 Willinga Park Grand Prix Spectacular this Sunday, follow all the action with livestream from the event at (20+) Willinga Park | Facebook
