Geoff and Mary Grimish sure do seem get more than their fair share of horses that excel on rain affected tracks and here is another one, the Snitzel colt Sixgun who motored home to make a winning career debut over 1100 metres at Canterbury on Wednesday.
The Mark Newnham-trained colt struggled to keep in touch early and Robbie Dolan was scrubbing him along.
After catching the pack approaching the turn, Sixgun began to pick-up at a time when most were feeling the pinch and overpowered the favourite Camerlengo (More Than Ready) in the final 50 metres to win by three-quarters of a length.
The So You Think colt Rocketing By was a further four and a quarter lengths back in third.
The much-anticipated debt of Winx's half-sister Covent Garden (Exceed And Excel) proved something of a fizzer as she floundered in the conditions and beat just one of the seven runners home.
Winning rider Robbie Dolan said his mount still has plenty to learn but has untapped ability.
"He's probably still not 100 per cent in the mind yet but for him to win like that first time in a race and with so much improvement left to come for him, he could be exciting," he told Sky Racing.
Sixgun is a brother to Group II Arrowfield Sprint winner Splintex and a half-brother to the stakes-placegetters Acqume (Sepoy) and Invictus Salute (Exceed And Excel) who recently went through the Inglis Chairman’s Sale where she failed to make her $850,000 reserve.
Newman echoed the opinion of Dolan that Sixgun is a raw talent.
"He's probably a bit more physically developed than Splintex at the same stage but he's got a few wayward traits that Splintex didn't have," Newnham said.
"We've had to iron that out with a few trials and a change of gear.
“After his last trial we've put the cross-over noseband on him and that seems to have worked well."
Sixgun is the fourth winner from as many to race out of the accomplished O'Reilly mare Acquired.
A $170,000 purchase at the NZB NZ Premier Yearling Sale, Acquired won seven races and placed in the Group II BRC Dane Ripper Stakes.
She is a sister to the stakes-placed Procurement and a half-sister to the Group II STC Reisling Stakes winner Hip's Don't Lie who is the dam of Listed stakes-winner Lake Geneva who placed in the Group 1 Golden Slipper and Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes.
Acquired is also a half-sister to the blazingly fast Azevedo who placed in the Group 1 VRC Lightning Stakes and to the dams of stakes-winners No More Tears and Weatherly.
A year after her daughter Acquime was sold for $750,000 at the Chairman's Sale, Acquired was herself sold out of the Kitchwin Hills draft at the 2019 Chairman’s Sale where she was knocked down to Highgrove Stud for $450,000. Sadly, the Not A Single Doubt foal she was carrying died after birth.
The daughter of O’Reilly was covered by The Autumn Sun last spring.
Sixgun was not the only 2yo son of Snitzel to impress on Wednesday.
Godolphin’s Tolkowsky opened his account at Sale (read the story here)
