Warren preview: Trainer Mick Mulholland’s gelding to put the bite on rivals

Trainer Michael Mulholland is set for a big day out at Warren, aka the Randwick of the West, on Tuesday where he saddles up an exciting debutant.

2014 Golden Slipper winner Mossfun is related to a runner at Warren on Tuesday.

Exciting Dubbo chestnut Listen To Win will make his anticipated, and at one stage unlikely debut at the track famously known as ‘the Randwick of the West’ on Monday.

The Warren-bound three-year-old is trained by Michael Mulholland who purchased the son of Shooting To Win for $5500 as a yearling at the Inglis Digital Sale in June 2022.

“I had him up and going as a two-year-old but he got bitten by a spider and had an allergic reaction to it and it took me a while to get him back to the races,’’ Mulholland explained.

“If you saw his back leg at the time, you wouldn’t think he would ever race again. It was shocking.”

Fast forward to the present and thankfully all four of Listen To Win’s legs are working well enough for him to have impressed in his two trials, one at Dubbo, the other at Mudgee on July 7.

“At the moment they are wet trials so you can’t take too much out of them but he got to the line nicely both times so he should be somewhere near the money I think,’’ Mulholland told The Daily Telegraph.

“It comes down to how green he is and what he does. If he gets in the clear, he will run home quite strongly.’’

Listen To Me has a distinct Golden Slipper pedigree.

His dam Sravana is a daughter of Paul Perry’s race winner Stratum (2005) while his grand-dam What Fun is not only by the 1990 Slipper hero Canny Lad, she is also the grand-dam of Mossfun (2014).

Mulholland, meanwhile, will saddle-up one of the main fancies in a hotly-contested Benchmark 58 Handicap (1400m) to wrap up the Warren-card namely Magnace.

Bred in New Zealand by the immortal Sir Patrick Hogan, Magnace was originally sold for $320,000 at the Karaka Yearling Sale in 2021.

The son of 2016 French Derby winner Almanzor has responded well to his change of address from Flemington to Dubbo with a win and a second included among his four starts.

So impressive was he at Wellington in his Class 1 win on May 30 that Magnace was $16 into $14 to win a TAB Highway four weeks later.

For the record, he finished ninth of 17, circa five-lengths behind the winner.

“He was only a Class 1 horse in a Class 3 Highway and it says he ran ninth but if you look at the replay, he should have finished two-lengths closer than what he did,’’ Mulholland says.

“He got cut-out 150m from home and had to be dragged back a bit and lost a little bit of momentum.

“He only got beaten three-lengths so it you take that length and a half, two lengths off, he doesn’t get near the first or the second horse but he most probably finishes fifth in the race.

“He’ll be hard to beat on Tuesday actually. If he gets out in the clear the last 100m, I think he will charge to the line pretty strongly.’’

Mulholland’s remaining runner at Warren on Tuesday is Epic Poem who resumes in the Bealcott Partnership/ Four AG Benchmark 58 Handicap (1200m).

“It might be a touch short for him, that’s my only query about him,’’ the trainer said.

“He is more a 1400m/1600m horse but most of them go quite well fresh. He has got no real bad races to his name so he should be right there.

“He is still a bit bulky and big but he’s had a fair bit of work underneath his belt.’’

Jockey Jeff Penza.

PENZA BACK ABOARD MARE AFTER FALL

Jeff Penza will reunite with the local mare Mischievous Molly at Taree on Tuesday for the first time since horse and rider were involved in a horrific fall at the same venue in October.

The three-horse fall left Penza with multiple serious injuries including a punctured lung.

Worse off after the incident was Lachlan Scorse who was top of mind for Mischievous Molly’s trainer Wayne Wilkes ahead of the mare’s pending return.

“I see Lachie at odd times,’’ Wilkes told The Daily Telegraph. “He is progressing slowly but he is coming along well.’’

As for Mischievous Molly, Wilkes’ mare seems to have more against her than for her on Tuesday, except for talent and potential.

“She is only a Class 1 horse in a Class 3 race,’’ Wilkes said. “I wanted to trial her but the trials got wiped out at Tuncurry.We are a bit cautious with her. We just want her to have a good run and come through it unscathed so we can start mapping things out for her.

“She has got plenty of ability. I just want to make sure everything goes right for her.’’

Wilkes has the honour and distinction of saddling-up the most interesting runner on the Taree card namely Laizabout who makes his debut off a stunning six-length trial win at home 10-days ago.

“I think he can measure up but you have just got to hold back a bit. It is another step up to a race,’’ Wilkes said.

“I think he is still probably another six months away from being a real good horse. We are just going through the processes at the moment to keep getting educated with it all.

“A 1000m might not his best distance, I think he is going to get out to 1400m to a mile.’’

Laizabout was from the first crop of foals by Champagne Classic winner and Golden Rose runner-up, Zousain.

The gelding’s grand-dam is Victory Vein who went close to winning the Two-Year-Old Triple Crown in 2001.

The Bede Murray-trained filly was beaten a short-head in the Golden Slipper in race record time then won the Sires’ and Champagne Stakes beating Choisir each time.

Wilkes paid $50,000 for Laizabout at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling sale and came back 12 months later and bought the horse’s sister for $60,000.

“We liked what he was showing us at the time and some of the owners that are in Laizabout said if you get her, we’d go straight into it,’’ he said.

Originally published as Warren preview: Trainer Mick Mulholland’s gelding to put the bite on rivals