Torque To Be Sure survived a protest in the stewards’ room to shrug his maiden tag on the biggest stage with a win in the $3 million Gold Coast Magic Millions 3YO Guineas (1400m) on Saturday.
The Matt Dunn-trained gelding was wayward in the straight under Ben Melham and made contact with odds-on favourite Ninja on several occasions, prompting jockey Tommy Berry to lodge a protest on behalf of connections.
While stewards took their time to consider the interference and deliberate over the result, they could not be satisfied that the contact cost Ninja the race and dismissed the objection.
For Dunn, the lucrative win was one to savour and came after a string of near misses with the son of Shamus Award.
Torque To Be Sure had run minor placings in five of his 10 starts prior to Saturday.
“He’s been a frustration and I’m lucky I’ve got a very patient ownership group in him,” Dunn said.
“But look what he did today, he’s certainly always had the talent and he did a wonderful job.
“The sky is the limit, who knows what he can do.
“We probably should’ve finished right next to Ninja two starts ago when Ninja nearly shoved him through the inside fence so maybe that was a square up late today.
“They ($3 million races) are special, especially when you have a maiden going into them.
“This week is incredible and it’s getting bigger, it’s a wonderful carnival.”
Melham said Torque To Be Sure’s win was full of merit, despite the interference in the concluding stages of the race.
“He is a horse that can do a little bit wrong as we saw but he was dominant today I felt,” Melham said.
“He was a bit wayward but he had a margin on the second horse.”
The win advanced Torque To Be Sure’s career earnings to just shy of $2 million.
Crash The Party finished fourth in the race and, in addition to $135,000 prizemoney, picked up $162,500 as the first of the horses eligible for the Magic Millions Racing Women Bonus past the post.
Purchased for $260,000 from the draft of Attunga Stud draft at the MM Gold Coast Yearling Sale by his trainer Matthew Dunn and bloodstock agent Neil Jenkinson, the Mr RD Hannon, HG & MG Cope, Lees Racing and E Spreling-bred Torque To Be Sure is the seventh winner (and first stakes winner) from nine to the races out of the G3 placed Fastnet Rock mare Elimbari.
A half-sister to the unbeaten G2 winner Amelia’s Dream, a one-time favourite for the G1 Golden Slipper before injury ended her race career, Elimbari is also the dam of the stakes placed fillies Vincere Volare (I Am Invincible) and Conscious (So You Think).
From a family that has shown juvenile speed through stakes winners Shalt Not and her daughter Amelia’s Dream to staying ability via G1 The BMW (2400m) winner Grand Zulu, Elimbari has unfortunately not had a foal since Torque To Be Sure.
Interestingly, Torque To Be Sure's co-breeder Robert (Bob) Hannon was also ther breeder of his G1 WS Cox Plate-winning sire Shamus Award (Snitzel).
This year’s Magic Millions catalogued contained two close relations to the 3YO Guineas winner with Springy's Prestige Racing and Kearney Racing securing the So You Think x Amelia’s Dream filly (Lot 48) for $250,000 from the draft of Riversdale, while Hidden Valley Thoroughbreds will offer Lot 1158 in Sunday’s Book 2, a filly by Widden Stud’s Written By out of Torque To Be Sure’s half-sister Riapinka (Bel Esprit).
Torque To Be Sure became the 31st stakes winner for Rosemont Stud’s Shamus Award, headed by six G1 winners including Incentivise, Duais and Mr Quickie.
