Mogumber Park swept the board last year with the winners of both the MM feature races and they did it again at Pinjarra on Saturday.
Maria Lucia won the $250,000 Magic Millions 2YO Classic (1200m) (read about her here) and then it was the turn of Twisted Steel in the $250,000 Magic Millions 3YO Trophy (1200m).
The Simon Miller trained Twisted Steel was sent to post as favourite following a sparkling win over 1100m at Ascot, with punters mindful of the gelding's second to high quality filly Luana Miss at the carnival last November.
Challenging for favoritism was Mitchell Pateman's classy G2 WA Guineas runner up Heza Phoenix (Grunt) and the Listed Belgravia Stakes placed Mardusa ( Maurice)
Promising filly Don't Wink (Star Turn) had her admirers, as did The Nun (Churchill), while punters Neville Parnham's Country God ( Playing God) and Hubble's Dragon ( Deep Field) as the best of the rest in the 16 horse field.
On jumping Don't Wink mustered speed quickly with Twisted Steel and 100/1 pop Ripper Rupert ( Winning Rupert) going forwards as well.
Heeza Phoenix got caught wide as 200/1 hope Bundaberg ( Gingerbread Man) and Hubble's Dragon pushed forward to hold prominent positions.
Country God had settled back in the field with The Nun on the rail inside him and Mardusa went back to last.
At the 500m Ripper Rupert was fairly hammering along and held sway narrowly from Bundaberg as the two outsiders led the MM Trophy field at a cracking pace !
Lucy Fiore and Heeza Phoenix moved up to challenge but Twisted Steel came even wider out of his slipstream.
As they barrelled into the straight Ripper Rupert still led, though Bundaberg had enough.
Twisted Steel was travelling like the winner throughout and now he strode to the lead and powered away - he was simply too good for the opposition and won by two lengths from Brad Parnham and Hubble's Dragon who outran his odds for the Morton stable.
Country God motored home into third for Neville and Brad Parnham and the winner's 200/1 stablemate Champagne Crusader ( Universal Ruler) who gained a start as an emergency zoomed home for fourth!
A wall of horses went to the line behind Twisted Steel with not much between them. Heeza Phoenix held ground off his tough run and Mardusa made up lengths in the straight but it was all about Twisted Steel who had come home in a time just a shade outside the track record!
A huge group of excited owners squeezed into the yard to welcome their pride and joy back to scale.
“I looked after him last start knowing he was coming to this race , it probably looked a bit cocky but I knew what I had in the tank” said the winning jockey Johnston-Porter after the race
“Where he lobbed in running I thought,well this is all over. He idled up outside Lucy’s horse ….he’s got the win easy. Simon's always had a massive opinion of this horse.”
The trainer was all smiles as despised roughie Champagne Crusader had just taken out the $25,000 Ladies Bonus to go with Twisted Steel’s winning purse.
Twisted Steel’s MM 3YO Trophy win advances his record to four wins and a second from eight starts for $367,820 in earnings and some black type - a nice return on his purchase price!
The attractive Rommel gelding was a $100,000 buy for Simon Miller Racing from the draft of Ruby Racing and Breeding AA) at Perth MM.
His dam is the placed I Am Invincible mare Real Beauty, a full sister to the 9 x winning and twice stakes placed Real Danger and he was her seçond foal. The first by Rommel is a winner.
Real Beauty missed at her next visit to Maschino before being covered by the late and great So You Think.
Her dam Real Charm by Zabeel’s champion son and undefeated Sprinter Reset was a dual stakes winner and placed in the G3 WA Oaks while her full brother Mystic Prince won the G2 WA Derby. They were the best of five winners produced from the winning Catbird mare Purfect Size in turn a daughter of good producer Assizes by Kenmare - a half sister to stakes winner and producer Verocative.
Twisted Steel's next dam is True Verdict by the G1 Lightning Stakes winner The Judge and she was a full sister to champion Zeditave who also won the race and he is of course the damsire of Reset, giving Twisted Steel an interesting pedigree.
Twisted Steel is bred
Danzig 4m x 5m
Danehill 3m x 5m
As with the 2YO Classic winner we have that Kenmare / My Babu nick here, greatly enhanced by both Zabeel's sire Sir Tristram and by the ancestress of Zeditave and his sister - Summoned. She carries My Babu's three quarter brother Cagire.
The pedigree creates the famous Zabeel / Eight Carat nick and linebreeding to the relatives Danzig, Bletchingly, Rockefella and Blue Hen Eljazzi - also to Mr Prospector, Turn- To and both Grey Sovereign and his half brother Nimbus.
Rommel has six lots catalogued for Perth Magic Millions in all, three colts and three fillies all and but one from the Ridgeport Holdings draft
Rommel stands at Ridgeport Farm on a fee of $5,500
