Even by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott's own lofty standards, Saturday proved a marquee day for the training partnership, with four (4) stakes winners across two states, including In The Congo's (by Snitzel) success in the Gr1 Golden Rose.
Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott
While Saturday's all-the-way win by
In The Congo represented
Gai Waterhouse's 146th Group 1 success -
134 in her own name and now 12 Gr1 victories in partnership with Bott - it was nonetheless enjoyed and celebrated in the manner of her first, 29 years ago.
For
Gai Waterhouse, days like Saturday, where the stable toasted a
Group treble at Rosehill and a Listed success at Sandown, represent
a reward for the faith owners have in the training team, and the work the entire stable put in every day.
While
In The Congo's Golden Rose win was the highlight, there was also a
Gr2 Golden Pendant success for the consistent 4-year-old mare
Vangelic (Vancouver), a
Gr3 Colin Stephen Quality victory for
Entente (Dundeel {NZ}) and a
Listed Jim Moloney S. triumph for
Queen Of Dubai (Pride Of Dubai).
It completed a
magical three-day run for the stable, which had
10 winners from 16 runners from Thursday to Saturday.
As of Saturday night,
Waterhouse and Bott had 37 winners for the new season, a success achieved from
147 runners, giving them a
strike rate of
25.2 per cent, a benchmark which exceeds anything they have achieved in their previous five seasons in partnership.
The last time Waterhouse succeeded at a better strike rate was back in
2008/09.
Gai spoke about the stable's rich vein of form:
"It’s so satisfying. It's the sort of day the whole stable, all the owners, everyone, breathes a sigh of relief, everyone has a smile on their faces, and everyone flies out of bed at the crack of dawn," Gai commented.
What also pleases Gai is that her best horses have tended to defy the expectations of the market.
None of the Waterhouse/Bott stable's six stakes wins this season have been with outright favourites and the average price of the winners has been better than $9.
"I knew that the horses would run very well. You must remember that a lot of our horses are starting very long odds. They weren't starting 3-1, they were starting 10s and 20s. It's a big effort when you are running outside of what people's expectations are." Gai said.
6 of the 10 horses which won from Thursday to Saturday had been sourced through the yearling sales.
In The Congo's success is a result of a
relatively new involvement, training for the
China Horse Club / Newgate led Syndicate, who purchased him for
$350,000 at the 2020 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale.
The relationship has been fostered from one Waterhouse has built with
Newgate’s Managing Director Henry Field from when he worked at her stables from age 14.
In The Congo is a horse that immediately made an impression with Gai, possessing the raw speed which enables him to fulfill her
preferred tactical style of leading from the front.
While he confronted some elite 3-year-olds on Saturday, including
previous Group 1 winners Anamoe (Street Boss) and Artorius (Flying Artie), Waterhouse always had serious faith in the Snitzel colt.
In The Congo winning the G1 Golden Rose S.
"I thought he'd win, because I knew he had done everything right and I knew he had the speed. He only had to fly the gates and run the way he has been running to be right up to everything he has done so far," she said.
It was Gai's advice on how to ride
In The Congo that was
ringing in jockey Tim Clark's ears when he jumped from the barriers in the Golden Rose.
“I had a conversation with Gai on the way here and I said to her I’ll roll to the first turn and might just try and get a breather,’’ Clark said after the race.
“She said, ‘Don’t you dare’. She said, 'You keep him running and use his speed because it can win you the race!' So, I did that and we pulled it off.”
Clark rode all three Rosehill stakes winners for the stable, with well-judged all-the-way successes on both In The Congo and Vangelic.
He has now ridden
163 winners for Waterhouse and Bott in combination, almost twice as many as any other jockey. He has ridden
6 of their 12 Group 1 winners and
40 of their 102 stakes winners since the start of the
2016/17 season.
Tim Clark after winning the G2 Golden Pendant
A colt of immense potential:
In terms of
In The Congo, Gai is very excited for what may be yet to come with the colt, who became her first-ever winner of the Golden Rose, which has developed into one of Australia's premier stallion-making races.
"He has a stack of potential. He's such an exciting colt and it's a wonderful thing for Newgate. They support a lot of trainers. Henry and his group from China Horse Club, haven't they done a wonderful job in bringing people into racing in Australia and extending people's interests?" she said.
With In The Congo still in his first racing campaign, having debuted with a Kensington win in May, the question remains whether Waterhouse and Bott push on with the 3-year-old.
"We'll leave that up to Adrian, Henry and the China Horse Club to work out. I always put my thoughts in, and I always leave it with them to work out," she said.
Henry Field confirmed that the colt has pulled up well, with options for his immediate racing future still being assessed.
A partnership built on trust:
When Waterhouse appointed Bott as her co-trainer in 2016, it was seen as an
intriguing next chapter in one of
Australia's most remarkably successful training careers.
Five years later, they are enjoying arguably their most successful spell, something Waterhouse puts down to their terrific working relationship.
"I just think the one lovely thing with Adrian is that he listens to me. We work so well together, and we have mutual respect. We care about the welfare of the horses, and we care about our owners very passionately," she said.
"The key to the success is in the detail. We try all the time to dot our I’s and cross our T’s. When you put all those things together, you have a much better chance of being successful."
Dynamic Syndications are the primary syndicators to the stable and have been for over 6 years bring people into the system at
Tulloch Lodge and enjoying racetrack success.
Adam & Dean Watt - Dynamic Syndications with Gai Waterhouse at the sales
It’s being part of a big team. Not only do owners passionately support the horses they have shares in, but they get a buzz following all the stables horses and following the stables updates prior to each weekend which have proven to be very profitable.
Dynamic Owners enjoy a Sunday at Tulloch Lodge
The Team at Dynamic Syndications are almost sold out of all their horses they purchased in 2021 and currently have only a few shares to go to complete their final horse with Tulloch Lodge this year.
Our Pierro x Tiare 2yo Filly
She is a beautiful Pierro filly from Tiare, a Flying Spur mare.
The stable trained both the sire and dam, so it’s a real Tulloch Lodge pedigree.
Pierro winning the Golden Slipper
Tiare at Randwick
Pierro can’t do anymore than he has as a young sire and Tiare was a speed machine.
Dynamic Syndications purchased the filly at the Inglis Classic this year from the draft of
Newgate Farm for
$140,000 + GST.
All the planets are aligning with this 2yo filly.
She was the second highest price Dynamic paid for a filly this year, and is the perfect example of
getting what you pay for.
The filly is a big, strong, girl built more like a colt than a dainty, feminine filly.
Our filly in pre-training
She’s a brute, and importantly, she is the
right style of individual that
Gai and Adrian love as they can put their famed
“bone and muscle” polish into the horse and she has
the constitution to accept it all and ask for more.
Working with a mate - Pierro filly rider has light grey top
At the sales she was on the
short list for both Team Dynamic and Gai and Adrian.
So, we agreed if we could afford her,
Dynamic would buy the filly and syndicate her around Gai and Adrian.
Gai was adamant the filly was coming home to Tulloch Lodge, so if we ran out of ammunition, they would take over the fight.
We believed she would sell for
$200,000 or more, but our spending budget was capped at
$180,000. If it went over that amount, we would drop out and the stable would take over.
When the hammer dropped at
$140,000 it was
both excitement and relief.
Gai commented about the filly:
“This filly by Pierro is very exciting. The sire is having an unbelievable run of success on the track, and I have no doubt this filly looks destined for the top. I just love the Pierro progeny and why wouldn’t I? Pierro was my Champion 2yo and I have trained his Gr1 Winning daughter PINOT to win the VRC Oaks.
“She's out of TIARE, a FLYING SPUR mare that I trained who had brilliant speed. This cross works a treat and Adrian and I are delighted to be offered her to train. She's one not to miss out on.”
Adrian Bott added:
“Pierro can do it all and this filly is an impressive type by the top sire. We rated her highly and had her on our list to buy as did Dynamic. So, it we got our heads together and Dynamic purchased her for Gai and I to train. She will make into a lovely Spring 3yo and has the right breeding to aim at big fillies races.”
In 12 months’ time our owners of this filly have every opportunity to be lining up in the black-type races, the races Gai and Adrian are having such a great run of success in winning.
Gai, Dean & Fiona, Adrian - In the Winner's Room
There are only two scenarios –
you're invited to become a co-owner of the beautiful filly or watch her compete from the sideline knowing you were invited to belong.
Team Dynamic Owners with Gai & Adrian in the Winner's Stall !
At $12,250 per 5% Share this filly has excellent upside and strong residual. This filly has the opportunity to be life changing.
For full details about the filly call Adam Watt at Dynamic on 02 9540 1511 or 0409 464 378 and have a chat.
Full details are on our website – simply click here!