From broken leg to stakes winner for $7000 bargain buy

Warwick Farm trainer Marc Conners was daring to dream of a Doncaster shot with Willaidow after the $7000 buy, which broke his leg at his sixth race start, showed true grit to win the Southern Cross Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday.

The six-year-old, first-up and having his first attempt at stakes grade, raced behind leader Hard To Say before taking over at the 250m mark. Bjorn Baker-trained Iowna Merc looked set to edge out Willaidow over the last 100m, but he lifted under Tyler Schiller to get the narrow win.

Willaidow, left, gets the nose down to beat Iowna Merc in the Southern Cross Stakes.Credit: Getty Images

Bought at an online sale in 2022 as an unbroken three-year-old, Willaidow has now won eight races in 17 starts for stakes of $584,325. He raced through the grades last preparation despite carrying three pins in a cannon bone fractured in a win at Nowra in May 2023.

“I’ve done it half a dozen times since and they’ve done nothing,” Conners said of the cheap online buy.

“But that’s what this game is though, that’s what racing is. There’s no rule. He’s won over half a million dollars.

“I’d love to get him in a Doncaster, but there are other options. He loves the wet tracks, so if there’s rain in Melbourne, then maybe he goes to Melbourne.

“Who knows? I just reckon, outside the leader in a mile, he’ll take some running down ... He just never stops trying.”

It gave Schiller a feature double after his win on Blitzburg in the Canonbury Stakes.

“He hit the front and I thought he was all out the last 100, but he just kept fighting. He’s so tough,” Schiller said.

Blitzburg a gem for Ryan

Trainer Gerald Ryan was looking to the group 3 Black Opal at Canberra on March 9 as a more realistic target than a Golden Slipper for Blitzburg, despite his front-running domination of the Canonbury Stakes (1100m).

Blitzburg ($4.50) jumped to the lead from barrier two before kicking clear in the straight in the colts and geldings group 3 for two-year-olds. Hillier surged late to cut the winning margin to 1.18 lengths.

It was Blitzburg’s fourth start and first since finishing third on December 28 at Eagle Farm. He was second emergency for the Magic Millions Classic on January 11, but was treated for a cough and scratched when the race was pushed back six days.

Ryan, who trains in partnership with Sterling Alexiou, said Blitzburg “came home and has not missed a beat”.

“I’ve been telling them all the last 10 days, he’ll run huge,” Ryan said.

Despite the win, Ryan declared: “He’s not a Slipper horse. There’s a couple of better ones, I think”.

He said the Black Opal could be a likely target but was not completely ruling out a Slipper run.

“I think he’s a rung below. There’s a couple of other races you could pick, but it’s a Golden Slipper and you’re only two once, so we’ll just see where we end up,” he said.

Blitzburg swapped blinkers for winkers after a track gallop on Tuesday.

“He showed a bit on Tuesday when I worked him, but he’s not a very big horse, so I was hoping his work didn’t take it out of him too much,” Schiller said.

“But he jumped sharp today, he got to dictate and I think that was the main thing.”

Playwright in Blue Diamond frame

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable was considering a repeat of Golden Slipper winner Lady Of Camelot’s path for The Playwright after she led and hung on in a thrilling Widden Stakes (1100m) at Rosehill.

The Playwright ($4.40) led under Regan Bayliss and looked to have pinched a winning break in the group 3 feature for two-year-old fillies before Tempted and Snitzel Miss launched late to make it a photo-finish.

“I probably wanted to make it a bit of a test, coming back from that 1200,” Bott said.

The Playwright, left, holds on to beat Tempted and Snitzel Miss in the Widden Stakes at Randwick on Saturday.Credit: Getty Images

“She was under a bit of pressure at that early stage. It probably had her at her top a lot longer than you wanted to see, which is probably why she was that bit vulnerable late … but she’s so tough.”

Bott said the Blue Diamond Stakes at Caulfield could be a next target for The Playwright. Lady Of Camelot won the Widden Stakes, then was second in the Blue Diamond before claiming last year’s Slipper.

“She’s seasoned to do it, and she’s got the right attitude to do it,” he said. “I do feel she can keep going.”

Long shot hits the mark

Hawkesbury trainer Brad Widdup had owner and former jockey Ben Vassallo to thank after $46 chance Art’s Alive surprised her more-fancied rivals at Rosehill in a benchmark 72 handicap (1200m).

The three-year-old Snitzel filly stormed down the outside and got the nose down in a three-way finish to beat Stagnum and favourite Polyglot.

“I probably want to give Benny a bit of credit here, he pushed me to go this way,” Widdup said.

“We had her in last night [at Canterbury] and you always look to go the easier option, but we had a talk and left her in today.

“This preparation she just seems a better filly, I don’t know what it is. If you would have said last time in, she’d win a Saturday race … but obviously her breeding, that helps her a long way and she’s just getting better.”

Baker eyes Cup for tough cookie

Warwick Farm trainer Bjorn Baker was weighing up a Canberra Cup run for Our Anchorage after he won a third city race in just 17 days to kick off his preparation.

The six-year-old raced behind leader and stablemate O’Ziggy for apprentice Anna Roper in the benchmark 78 over 2000m before racing away for a three-length victory, which followed wins on the Kensington track on January 15 and at Randwick a week ago.

“We probably have to look at a race like the Canberra Cup at the start of March, it’s just where we go from now,” Baker said.

“But he’s definitely in good order, and we can probably step him up. He was dominant today. He’s big, strong and powerful and I wish I had his energy. He’s a tough cookie.”

Roper later won on Grand Impact for a first city double.