Having only been part of the Tony and Calvin McEvoy yard since December last year, Fiorente (IRE) gelding Ambassadorial has continued to improve, winning his last three starts highlighted by Saturday’s victory in the $200,000 G3 MRC Easter Cup (2000m) at Caulfield.
Securing a run as an emergency, the Logan Bates ridden 5yo gelding jumped away the race favourite and was one of six runners who went forward all trying to secure a position.
With Tom Charlton’s Quietness (GB) going to the lead after a little bit of work to take up that position, the Danny O’Brein trained grey mare Sea What I See (IRE) sat in second, looking to break her back-to-back black typed placed efforts.
Ambassadorial tracked along in fourth position getting the run of the race, especially with just 54kgs on his back.
As Sea What I See made a concerted effort to take the lead heading into the home straight, Ambassadorial had come off the heels of Sea What I See to challenge the mare.
Hitting the lead at the 200m mare, Ambassadorial continued to pull away from the field, winning the race by a length and a quarter from Sea What I See who toughed it out all the way to the line – recording her third consecutive black type placing.
Interestingly, the first four into the home straight were the first four home, suggesting the pace of the race didn’t allow those back in the back to come home.
“He’s been such a pleasure. There’ll be no trouble rehoming this horse, everyone in my stable absolutely adores him,” said Tony McEvoy.
“He’s such a gentleman, what a magnificent racing pattern he has. He’s just gone form strength to strength.
“Just a big thank you to Ann Peacock and Jane Chappell-Hyam for sending us the horse and giving him an opportunity with us.”
“He’s a gelding, he’s perfectly sound and he’s in rare form. We won’t stop – we’ll just reassess him,” McEvoy who indicated the Mornington Cup would be an option.
“The other thing we need to know is if he’d run a mile and a half – if he does that, that opens a brand-new chapter for him.
“He’s a very light fleshed athletic horse, so he doesn’t take a lot. If you look at his resume, he’s been with some trainers that do train them, so we decided to make a change.”
The win takes his record to six wins, and eight placed efforts from 25 starts with earnings of $534,750, a great return on the $22,500 spent by co-owner Jane Chapple-Hyam when purchasing Ambassadorial as a yearling from the Widden Stud draft at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Bred by Sun Bloodstock, Ambassadorial is the best of three winners from three to the races out of the stakes placed Big Brown (USA) mare Showcase, herself a half-sister to G3 winner Disposition (Reset), who was also a four-time Listed winner.
The current 3yo out of the mare is the winning I Am Invincible filly Invincible Woman and while the mare unfortunately missed to Stay Inside the following season, she has a yearling colt by In The Congo and foaled a filly by Maurice (Jpn) in the Spring. There has been no further activity on teh Australian Stud Book for the mare.
Ambassadorial became the 11th individual stakes winners for G1 VRC Melbourne Cup hero Fiorente, whose final crop runners are the 2yos of this season, after sadly passing away in 2023
