It has been thirty years since a Victoria Derby winner returned to win the Group III CS Hayes Stakes (1400m)at Flemington, but Riff Rocket achieved the feat like a horse with further Group 1 wins in sight.
Ridden by Craig Williams for Chris Waller, the 3-year-old son of American Pharoah (USA) came with a barnstorming finish to defeat the Group 1 winning Kingman colt King Colorado by three-quarters of a length with the Justify gelding Verdad the same distance back in third.
Stable representative Charlie Duckworth said Riff Rocket will likely not stretch out to the Derby distance this preparation.
“I know he won a Derby, but we genuinely believe he didn’t stay out the distance that well, Duckworth said.
“We haven’t changed anything drastically. We’ve just gone through the normal processes we would with any horse, and he’s come back mentally matured and is a lot sharper.
“I was told he is the first horse in 30 years to win a Derby and come back and win this race. Full credit to the horse; he’s a real trier.
“Whatever he’s been doing in his trials, all the right form judges were on him, and I think we’ll enjoy the win.
“It was a lot less stressful than the Derby.”
“The plan was to stay here for the Australian Guineas in a fortnight, and we thought that realistically that is where we thought he’d be prime (over) a mile and beyond, but to show how sharp he was today is fantastic, so I’d image the plan won’t change too much, but hopefully he can get a picket fence together.”
Craig Williams said the winner was brilliant.
“It has been a lucky race for me, and today I was lucky to have Chris Waller and Riff Rocket,” he said.
“He was dominant here and has kept his Flemington record intact.
“To me, he is still raw. He still seems to wobble and float around even though he loves Flemington. I’m not too sure about the history of it, but he’s coming along.
“The way he has started his preparation, we were as kind as possible to him, and to see him get the win, I’m sure that Chris had him nice and ready today with the big weight that it wouldn’t hurt him too much.”
Riff Racket advances his record to five wins and two seconds from eight starts with earnings of $1,511,675.
A homebred for Debbie Kepitis’s Woppitt Bloodstock, Riff Rocket was foaled and raised at Coolmore and is the only winner from two to race for the Smart Missile mare Missile Coda, the winner of five of her 13 starts and runner-up to Savannah Amour in the Listed Hinkler Stakes at Doomben.
A $400,000 Magic Millions yearling, Missile Coda is out of the talented Lonhro mare Rain Melody, a three-quarter sister to I Believe (dam of multiple Group II winner and Group 1-placed Rain Affair and Listed winner Ranges), and a half-sister to Listed winner Walk Alone.
Missile Coda has a 2-year-old Nicconi filly named Codetta in the Michael Freedman stable. She was covered by Home Affairs last spring.
