Solidly supported Winchester opened his winning account when making all the running in the Sportsbet Photo Finish Refund Hcp (1000m) at Sandown-Hillside on Wednesday to notch up the 11th Australian juvenile winner of the season for Deep Field.
Ridden by Patrick Moloney for Michael, Wayne and John Hawkes, Winchester held off the luckless $101 chance Blackberry Bomb (Brazen Beau) by ba neck with the Extreme Choice debutant Nostringsattached back in third.
Appearing for the first time since his career debut fifth in the Listed Talindert Stakes at Flemington in February, Winchester was a $250,000 purchase for Hawkes Racing from the Newgate Farm draft at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale.
Patrick Maloney said the stable is excited by the strapping gelding.
“He’s a lovely animal, and John filled me with confidence,” Moloney said.
“John left me with an open book and to ride the horse wherever he travels. He has shown speed in his trials; ride him where he is comfortable, help him down the hill and hold him together for as long as you can.
“He didn’t jump as cleanly as I would have liked. He had his head burrowed down when the gates opened. He’s a big horse, but he gathered stride quickly and travelled well throughout.
“I think he still had a few gears left. He had his ears pricked down the running, a positive sign.”
Bred by S F Bloodstock, Henry Field Bloodstock, and Hollymount Stud, Winchester is the fifth winner from six to race for the smart racemare Shared Reflections.
A Gooree Stud homebred, Shared Reflections (Umatilla) defeated Streama and Pane In The Glass in the Group II Sweet Embrace Stakes and finished fourth in the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes won by Helmet in a 6-start career.
Shared Reflections was a $170,000 purchase for Kestrel Thoroughbreds at the 2021 National Broodmare Sale. She has a weanling colt by Stay Inside (her seventh colt and yet to have a filly) and was covered by In The Congo last spring.
