New Zealand-bred gelding With Your Blessing capped a consistent run of form with his first black-type success in Saturday’s A$250,000 Gr.3 Bill Ritchie Handicap (1400m) at Randwick.
The Vadamos gelding progressed through the grades last season with a pair of Randwick victories – an 1100m Benchmark 78 handicap on January 4, followed by a 1300m Benchmark 88 just over a month later. Trainer John Thompson then stepped him up into stakes company and he finished second in a photo finish to the Gr.3 Liverpool City Cup (1300m) at Randwick on March 1.
After resuming with a fifth in the July Sprint (1100m) at Rosehill, With Your Blessing resumed the previous season’s Randwick form with big runs for second in the Gr.3 Show County Quality (1200m) on August 23 and third in the Gr.2 Tramway Stakes (1400m) on September 6. Saturday brought a richly deserved breakthrough at black-type level.
“He’s been going well and this race fit in at the right time,” Thompson said. “He’s just in the zone. He’s going super. It took a couple of Group One horses to beat him in the Tramway the other day (Pericles and Private Eye) and he was gallant in defeat.”
With Your Blessing continued his successful partnership with regular rider Alysha Collett, who allowed him to stride forward from a wide gate on Saturday and take up the lead. That was where he stayed, dictating terms out in front and kicking hard at the top of the straight.
The challengers tried their hardest to reel the leader in, headed by runner-up Bosustow, but With Your Blessing held on strongly to win by a neck.
“He absolutely loves his job,” Collett said. “He loves pinging the barriers, getting to the front, and as long as you sit there and cuddle him and tell him he's good, he'll give you a really good effort.
“He was a very good winner today and it was very deserved. Thank you to the team for putting me on, and he's just one of my favourite horses. He just makes life easy.”
With Your Blessing was bred by the Hawkins family’s Llanhennock Trust and is by Vadamos out of the Darci Brahma mare Super Trouper. Herself a five-race winner from a 28-start career in the Llanhennock colours, Super Trouper is a half-sister to the stakes-placed Lim’s Dashing.
With Your Blessing is the best of five foals to race so far for Super Trouper, who is also the dam of the six-time Australian winner Super Alana. Super Trouper has a three-year-old Ole Kirk filly who has been named Che Ole, and she produced a filly foal by State Of Rest last spring.
Wentwood Grange offered With Your Blessing at the 2020 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale, where he was bought for A$70,000. He has now had 33 starts for seven wins, 12 placings and A$788,505 in stakes. – NZ Racing Desk.
