The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable are always hard to beat in early season juvenile races and Trapeze Artist colt Flying Houdini delivered the goods for his big group of owners when leading all the way to win the $250,000 Group III ATC Breeders Plate (1000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
The colt was a winner at the official 2YO trials at Randwick last month beating Bivouac colt Capitano and the two colts again ran the quinella under race conditions with Anamoe colt Nonu a good third.
Ridden by Regan Bayliss, Flying Houdini was super strong to the line when challenged and forged clear to win by more than a length.
“He is a nice value purchase by RedFox. Full credit to them, they continue to buy these nice horses that perform on the big stage,” said Adrian Bott.
“Of all our two-year-olds coming here today, he has been the most natural all the way through. He has been thriving every single day of his preparation and we didn’t have an excuse not to bring him here today.”
Flying Houdini will head for a short break with big autumn target races on the horizon now that he has prizemoney in the bank.
“You saw his attitude, he’s very determined, his ears went back and he was in for the fight. He has done it all very easily through the campaign and you saw today when he was challenged he found another length,” Bott said.
“The path has always been for our two-year-olds to get here today, that is a big job in itself, and he will go for a spell now. He’s a horse we can bring back early in the New Year, resume here in Sydney, then we can possibly go to the Blue Diamond and then target the Golden Slipper.”
Regan Bayliss will be keen to stick with Flying Houdini after riding him in his trial and now first win.
“Bone and muscle. He’s a streetfighter. I knew if I could find the front today, nothing would get past him. They’d come to him, but he’d just pin his ears back and go right through the line,” he said.
“Adrian and Gai and the stable have done a terrific job of just ticking him over and keeping his mind in the right place.”
A $60,000 Inglis Classic purchase from Widden Stud for Red Fox Racing, Flying Houdini carries the same colours as Fully Lit, who won an Inglis Millennium for Red Fox / Waterhouse Bott and won the G3 Cameron Handicap last month at Newcastle.
Bred by the Vieira family and foaled and raised at Widden Stud, Flying Houdini is a full brother to Inglis Nursery Stakes winner Where’s the Circus from a fast female family.
He is the eighth winner from and last of nine foals to race from placed Fastnet Rock mare Misplaced, who died last year.
Flying Houdini is the 13th stakes-winner for Trapeze Artist, who is well priced at Widden this spring at $27,500.
