The John O’Shea trained sprinting star Lost And Running (Per Incanto) carried top weight to a decisive victory in the $1m The Hunter over 1300m at Newcastle.
Despite being burdened with 59 kilos and drawing the widest gate in stall 17, the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale graduate travelled kindly throughout under jockey Hugh Bowman and never looked like being beaten.
Lost And Running led home an Inglis quinella in the valuable contest, with Classic Yearling Sale purchase Wandabaa (Wandjina) 1.3 lengths adrift of the winner at the line.
The Lib Petagna bred 5YO was a $40,000 purchase by O’Shea from the Blandford Lodge draft at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale and races in the colours of Carl and Lorraine Holt, with the ownership group also including Francis and Christine Cook and Petagna himself.
This was a seventh win in 12 starts for the top-class sprinter and brings his earnings past the $2.2m mark, while he is the second consecutive Inglis graduate to win The Hunter, following on from the win of Sweet Deal in 2020. “That was a big performance today” said winning trainer O’Shea.
“He got into lovely rhythm, really let down late and was a class act.
“We’re really excited because that was a good job today, he gets a well-earned break and we’ll come back in the Autumn,” added the trainer, with races like the G1 Canterbury Stakes and G1 All Aged Stakes mentioned as likely targets, while a crack at the 2022 edition of The Everest is very much on the agenda following his fourth-placed finish this year.
The win of Lost And Running brings to 48 the number of open races with prizemoney of $1m or more in Australia won by Inglis graduates since 2018.
Also at Newcastle, promising 3YO filly Festival Dancer (Choisir) claimed a facile first Stakes win when running away with the G3 Spring Stakes over 1600m.
Sent-off favourite on the the back of three consecutive wins, the Matthew Smith trainee bounded clear in the straight to win easily by 2.5 lengths.
A $33,000 purchase at the Inglis Classic Yearling Sale by Smith, Festival Dancer runs in the colours of Francis and Christine Cook, who enjoyed a fantastic day, with breeder Dr Deanne Hummelstad retaining a share in the ownership.
For Geoff Harris of Tolooganvale Farm, who offered Festival Dancer for sale as a yearling on behalf of Dr Hummelstad, the result didn’t come as a great surprise.
“She was a nice, athletic filly, but the dam had been a bit disappointing to that point and that seemed to put a few people off,” said Harris.
“I remember thinking at the time that it wouldn’t surprise me if she went on to win a nice race, so it’s great to see her deliver on that promise.
“Success like this is a great advert for the work we do on the farm to produce good racehorses and I’m looking forward to getting back to Riverside in 2022 with a really good draft for the Classic Sale,” added Harris.
