It wasn't just about the winner of the $400,000 Inglis Nursery with a Pink Bonus collected and a Best Turned Out award also presented on the race won by Inglis Digital purchase Where's the Circus.
It was a fairytale result in today’s $400,000 Listed Inglis Nursery at Randwick as the $1250 Inglis Digital bargain buy Where’s The Circus (Trapeze Artist) and his “battling trainer’’ Paul Murray defeated some of the industry’s biggest players on the biggest stage.
Murray and his partner Michelle Ritchie spotted a Trapeze Artist yearling in last year’s Inglis Digital September (Late) Online Sale, out of a mare called Misplaced that they had trained some of her progeny previously.
They secured the filly for just $1250 from breeder Bert Vieira and 15 months later on debut at $51, Where’s The Circus led from barrier to post to score a comprehensive victory in the Nursery.
“I’d never even seen the filly when we bought her but I knew the family and we like buying these cheap ones on Inglis Digital and seeing what we can do with them and here we are, winning a $400,000 Inglis race,’’ Murray said.
“I haven’t really had a decent 2YO for two or three years now so to have this girl come along and put herself up in lights, it’s exciting for everyone.
“I know she was a big price but we came here with a bit of confidence today, she’s been showing us a bit back home.
“We love Inglis Digital! Who would have thought five years ago that you could buy a yearling online with Inglis and they come out and win a feature race on debut worth $400,000.
“She’ll go to the paddock now and we’ll give serious consideration to the $2m Millennium in February, we’d be mad not to!’’
Where’s The Circus (pictured) joins the likes of She Will Reign, Extreme Choice, Within The Law, Acrobat, Mossfun, Wild Ruler etc as winners of the Nursery, arguably the strongest pre-Christmas 2YO form race over a long period.
A brother to Where's The Circus is being offered as lot 190 at the Classic Yearling Sale in February for Widden Stud while her 6YO Menari half sister called Cavallo Rampante is in the current Inglis Digital December (Late) Online Sale, which closes for bidding from 10am Wednesday.
To view the Classic catalogue CLICK HERE.
To view the December (Late) Online Sale catalogue CLICK HERE.
Today’s victory sees Murray climb to equal 2nd with Gary Portelli in the Theault Trainers’ Challenge, which operates on each of the Inglis Race Series races.
The overall winning trainer each season receives a six-month rental free lease of a Theault horsebox.
The next race in the series is the Millennium at Randwick on February 7.
Where’s The Circus defeated Internal Affairs (Home Affairs) and Regal Hustle (Dirty Work) in today’s Nursery.
The Matthew Smith-trained Regal Hustle was the first Pink Bonus-eligible runner home in the race, winning her connections an extra $100,000 in prizemoney.
The Inglis Pink Bonus is the most lucrative women’s bonus in world racing, where eligible runners - paid up to the Inglis Race Series and with minimum 75% female ownership – race for an extra $1m throughout the series.
Regal Hustle’s part owner Kellie Crameri - who also part-owned last year’s Inglis Millennium winner and fellow Pink Bonus horse Fully Lit - couldn’t believe she was again part of the winning bonus scheme.
“We’ve run third but we feel like we’ve won, it’s amazing the Inglis Pink Bonus,’’ Crameri said.
“It gets the girls together, many of them first-time owners of a horse and is such a fun way to enjoy racehorse ownership.
“This is honestly what dreams are made of.’’
Prior to the running of the Nursery, Inglis Bloodstock Consultant Harry Bailey chose the Brad Widdup-trained Internal Affairs as the Best Turned Out runner in the Theatre of the Horse at Randwick.
The Best Turned Out award is an initiative at every Inglis Race Series event, whereby the runner deemed the ‘pick of the yard’ wins their strapper a cash prize.
Today’s $500 prize went to Internal Affair’s strapper Annie Robinson-Sierant.
