In-form gelding Ostraka earns his place in the $10m Golden Eagle with bold all-the-way win in Silver lead-up

A heady ride by champion jockey Blake Shinn to press forward on Ostraka from the wide gate paved the way for the gelding to claim victory in the Silver Eagle at Randwick.

Ostraka put his hand up for a crack at the $10 million Golden Eagle with a career best performance at Royal Randwick.

The Annabel Neasham and Rob Archibald-trained Ostraka produced a tough on speed effort to score in the Group 3 $1 million Silver Eagle (1300m).

Visiting Victorian based jockey Blake Shinn took bad luck out of the equation from a horrific wide draw and set the tempo in the Golden Eagle lead-up.

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Ostraka relished being out in front and kept finding in the straight to score a valuable win by a half-length from Peter Snowden-trained Xidaki ($21) with Michael Moroney and Glen Thompson-trained War Machine ($9) in third.

“He (Shinn) came out with a plan today and said, ‘look, if we want to win the race, we’re going to have to go forward’, and that’s what he did,” Archibald said.

“He relaxed beautifully in front, and full credit to the horse. He’s able to do it off-speed.

“Last start he did it on-speed, so he’s a really progressive horse.”

A Listed winner in his last run during the Brisbane Winter Carnival, Ostraka has retained his form throughout a brilliant start to the spring with a further three victories.

The son of Pariah has gone quickly through his grades this time in.

Ostraka takes control of the G3 Silver Eagle and wins!@blake_shinn | @ANeashamRacing | @aus_turf_clubpic.twitter.com/6o0YegHQ1w

— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) October 19, 2024

“I rode him in Queensland and he’s a bit of an aggressive sort of horse, but he’s really matured and developed,” Shinn said.

“Full credit to Annabel and Rob. He’s turned into a really good racehorse now. As you say, he’s versatile. He’s won over short courses up to 1300 today. Look, who knows?

“They might press onto a Golden Eagle and I think he’ll make his presence felt.”

Ostraka is now a $15 chance for the Golden Eagle on November 2 at Rosehill Gardens while Kimochi was shortened from $26 into $15 after finishing fourth.

Neasham and Archibald are open to giving Ostraka his chance in the Golden Eagle.

“He is possibly a little query over 1500 (metres), but he’s won over 1400 before, so I think with the prizemoney on offer, we’ll certainly give him that opportunity, I would guess,” Achibald said.

“He’s just really going well, heading in the right direction. I couldn’t be happier with him.”

Xidaki produced an excellent first-up run with jockey Kerrin McEvoy confident he’s in for a great prep.

“He will improve. He can run well in some nice races moving forward,” he said.

Originally published as In-form gelding Ostraka earns his place in the $10m Golden Eagle with bold all-the-way win in Silver lead-up