The $50,000 Clan O’Sullivan 2YO (1000m) at Canberra on Friday attracted the attention of the big Sydney stables with the first three all trained in the city and the winner was a flashy chestnut Snitzel filly that has been catching our eye at the barrier trials in recent weeks and started a short priced favourite.
Trained by Bjorn Baker and ridden by Ashley Morgan, Rainbow Glow is easy to spot with her prominent baldy face and especially so when she flew the gates and charged straight to the front in the Cressfield colours.
A natural speedster she rolled along in the lead and then kicked away before holding off a good challenge from the Michael Freedman trained Bivouac colt Swag to win by half a length with the Waterhouse Bott runner Graphic Sight in third place
Although retained to race by Cressfield, Rainbow Glow is Magic Millions eligible having been passed in at the sale shy of her $350,000 reserve, however her first prize cheque of some $30,000 is unlikely to be enough to get her into the 2YO Classic.
That said, there are plenty of other options for Rainbow Glow, who will now be eligible for a bonus should she return to Canberra and win the $50,000 Canberra Black Opal Preview and Group III Canberra Black Opal Stakes next year.
Rainbow Glow is a half-sister to stakes-placed Spring Lee, who is also trained by Bjorn Baker for Cressfield, and she is the third winner from Group II winning speedster Wild Rain, who comes from the family of Australian Horse of the Year Northerly and also the Bjorn Baker trained $9.7million earner Overpass.
Cressfield will offer a yearling colt by Home Affairs from Wild Rain at Magic Millions as Lot 96.
Wild Rain produced a colt by Zoustar this year and is now in foal to Wootton Bassett (GB).
