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Newly-former TJ Colts Syndicate named first their horse after the Tulloch Lodge maestro and will carry his famous colours

Legendary trainer Tommy Smith was widely known as The Little General and a two-year-old named after his nickname makes his debut at Randwick on Saturday and will carry his famous colours.

Ray Thomas
6 min read
October 25, 2024 - 9:00AM
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The Little General will revive memories of the great Tommy Smith when he makes his two-year-old debut in the Kirkham Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.

Smith trained at Randwick during his legendary career which yielded more than 7000 winners including 246 at Group 1 level, and a world record 33 consecutive Sydney trainer premierships.

The Hall of Fame inductee has a statue erected in his honour near the trainer’s hut at Randwick.

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Smith had various nicknames including “TJ” and “The Dominator” but the most popular was “The Little General”, the inspiration behind the naming of the two-year-old.

Trained by Smith’s daughter Gai Waterhouse in partnership with Adrian Bott, The Little General is the first horse raced by the newly-found “TJ Colts Syndicate.”

“We are trying to find colts that are a bit of value at the yearling sales,” Bott said.

“These are the types of two-year-olds that ‘TJ’ traditionally had some luck with, those early running two-year-olds.”

The Little General, a son of former champion sprinter and leading sire All Too Hard, cost $200,000 at the Magic Millions Yearling Sale at the Gold Coast earlier this year.

The colt’s rider Adam Hyeronimus will wear Smith’s famous colours of royal blue, green stripes and royal blue cap that were synonymous with the trainer during his time in charge at Tulloch Lodge.

Adam Hyeronimus will ride The Little General at Randwick on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images
Adam Hyeronimus will ride The Little General at Randwick on Saturday. Picture: Getty Images

The Little General has had one barrier trial to prepare for his debut, showing good speed but travelling three-wide without cover before a close second to Godolphin’s Comedy in a 740m heat at Randwick earlier this month.

“I thought he trialled well,” Bott said of The Little General.

“He has done very well since and I feel he is open to nice improvement.”

Among The Little General’s rivals is stablemate Chicama, a $1.35 million yearling purchase from the Inglis Easter Sale in April.

Chicama is by champion sire Written Tycoon out of The Broken Shore, herself the dam of Group 1 winner Shoals, and is the same family as Redoute’s Choice, Manhattan Rain and Platinum Scissors.

“We had Chicama in the same trial and although he didn’t have quite the same tactical speed, his closing sectionals were very good,’’ Bott said of the colt’s fast-finishing third.

■■■

Should Sydney’s richest spring carnival two-year-old race, the $1 million Golden Gift, be added to the Spring Champion Stakes meeting at Royal Randwick?

The current six-week gap between the opening two-year-old races of the season, the Breeders Plate and Gimcrack Stakes on Epsom Day, and Golden Gift is simply too long for most youngsters to stay in training during their first racing preparation.

Bott and Waterhouse prepared the Breeders Plate trifecta with King Kirk, Tempestuous and North England but only the minor placegetter is still in training for the Golden Gift, run at Rosehill on November 9.

Bel Merci, brilliant winner of the Gimcrack Stakes, is already in the spelling paddock.

If the Golden Gift was shifted to the Spring Champion Stakes meeting, it would be tempting for the winning connections from the Breeders Plate and Gimcrack Stakes to keep their two-year-old in training for an early season clash of the best colt and filly.

Another suggestion is to move the Breeders Plate and Gimcrack Stakes from their traditional place on the Epsom Handicap meeting to either Everest Day or to the Spring Champion Stakes meeting, then the Golden Gift could stay at Rosehill on the Five Diamonds program.

If the aim is to try and attract the best field possible for the Golden Gift, then sensibly the race needs to be programmed closer to the Breeders Plate and Gimcrack Stakes.

■■■

Ciaron Maher has already trained the winners of $25 million prizemoney – and the 2024-25 season is not even three months old.

The champion trainer’s stable earnings were given a significant boost after the wins in The Everest with Bella Nipotina and Caulfield Cup from Duke De Sessa last week.

Maher has now established a considerable lead over nearest rival Chris Waller ($14.6 million) for leading prizemoney trainer.

They had a tremendous battle for the title last season with Waller setting an all-time record of $51,669,540 to edge out Maher on $51,496.610.

Maher’s flying start to the season has him well placed to challenge Waller’s prizemoney record.

■■■

Pride Of Jenni and Broadsiding are the only Australian-bred starters in the $5 million Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on Saturday.

The nine-horse field contains four northern hemisphere-bred entries, Prognosis (Japan), Royal Patronage (France), Docklands (England) and Via Sistina (Ireland), plus three New Zealand bred runners, Mr Brightside, Kovalica and Evaporate.

Since Winx won her unprecedented four consecutive Cox Plates (2015-18), four of the last five winners of the race have been bred in the northern hemisphere – Lys Gracieux (2019), Sir Dragonet (2020), State Of Rest (2021) and Romantic Warrior (2023).

Godolphin champion Anamoe (2022) is the only Australian-bred Cox Plate winner since Winx.

■■■

Arrowfield Stud’s super stallion Snitzel achieved a significant milestone siring his 150th individual stakes winner when Saint Emilion won the Listed Geelong Classic earlier this week.

Snitzel, winner of four General Sires premierships, has already sired six stakes winners this season including his 20th individual Group 1 winner when Lady Shenandoah won the Flight Stakes earlier this month.

His progeny record includes two The Everests, two Golden Slippers, four Guineas, two Golden Roses, Cox Plate, two Magic Millions, and an Inglis Sires trifecta but he has never sired a Derby winner.

Saint Emilion has firmed into $8 for the Victoria Derby (2500m) at Flemington next week.

■■■

Champion jockey Kerrin McEvoy is attempting to maintain his perfect in the Group 2 $2 million The Invitation (1400m) when he rides Arctic Glamour in the feature mares race.

This is the fourth renewal of The Invitation and McEvoy remains the only jockey to win the race!

McEvoy won the inaugural The Invitation on Icebath in 2021, then scored on Promise Of Success (2022) and Espiona last year.

Arctic Glamour, trained by Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou, is at generous odds of $19 in latest TAB Fixed Odds betting considering the mare goes to The Invitation after a good third in the Golden Pendant and a last start fifth to Ceolwulf in the Epsom Handicap.

WHAT THEY SAID

• “It was very sad that we were unable to attend but, having watched the two main races on the television, I could see that the very best horses were on show, which clearly produced an enormous turn out as well as excellent broad television coverage,’’ said King Charles III in a letter to Racing NSW.

• “It was wonderful to see the best Australian sprinters, which we so enjoy seeing when they come over to Royal Ascot, out in force in the innovative TAB Everest. And I was delighted to observe that the King Charles III Stakes was so well supported with such a field of top milers. I would be most grateful if you could very kindly pass on my warmest congratulations to all the winning connections on what seemed to be a magnificent day’s racing,’’ said The King.

• “I obviously saw the favourite (Ascoli Piceno) out there with Joao (Moreira) aboard her and you can easily see why she is favourite. She is a beast and a beautiful filly. She will take some beating for sure but I think my filly is a great top four chance,’’ said Tommy Berry, rider of Golden Eagle hopeful Corazon Beat.

• “Amazingly, he was soon able to get back on his feet. It was just a really beautiful moment,’’ said jockey Jason Collett after Think About It’s miraculous recovery.

• “That was a pure act of respect from Jason (Collett). He’s had a heavy fall himself but he didn’t worry about his own safety or what was happening around him, the first thing he thought of was to get to the horse,’’ said Richard Freedman.

• “She doesn’t have a hair missing, there is no blood, no skin off. We’ve had our vet look over her, the Racing Victoria vet, I’ve been over her as well and I can’t believe she is OK,’’ said Chris Waller, trainer of Via Sistina.

• “Unfortunately she just tripped over on a loose bit of gear,’’ said James McDonald, rider of Via Sistina.

Originally published as Newly-former TJ Colts Syndicate named first their horse after the Tulloch Lodge maestro and will carry his famous colours

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Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/sport/horse-racing/newlyformer-tj-colts-syndicate-named-first-their-horse-after-the-tulloch-lodge-maestro-and-will-carry-his-famous-colours/news-story/920be84e181ff763911674c933cdb3f5