Peter Snowden eyes Brisbane carnival with $1.4 million colt Media World after maiden win

On By Vaseline

Media World is on course to recoup its hefty $1.4 million price tag after an impressive victory in the stand-alone meeting opener in Hawkesbury on Saturday.

Media World, trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, led the way to win the $160,000 Clarendon Stakes (1400 million).

Champion trainer Peter Snowden has a good opinion of the promising two-year-old colt and suggested he will get his chance during the winter carnival in Brisbane.

“I love this horse and he did a good job winning,” Snowden said.

“He’s a good colt to work with and I think he can go a mile, whether that’s this preparation or the next, I’m not sure.

“But we have Brisbane in mind for him and I think he would be competitive in races like the Produce Stakes of BTC Sires and JJ Atkins.”

Media World ($4.60 favourite) was deliberately ridden early on by star pupil Zac Lloyd and the colt took the leading role and never got ahead, holding off Monte Veebee’s late charge ($7.50) to win by a short neck with Canara ($9.50). ) more than two lengths away from third place.

“I’m sure Media World is better when it’s ridden with coverage,” Snowden said.

“We’ll see how he holds up and make a decision about Brisbane, but he’s definitely improving as he races.”

Lloyd admitted he did not want to take the lead at Media World, but had no alternative early on as the colt was in danger of being pinned wide.

“I had to go to the lead because I had to cross those horses on my inside,” Lloyd said.

“But he walked nicely under me, even though he was only slightly on the bridle and he was very strong in the last 200 meters.”

Sydney Racing

Zac Lloyd said Media World traveled well during the flight. Photo: Jeremy Ng/Getty Images

The Clarendon Stakes quinella was achieved with the two most expensive yearling purchases in the race – Media World at $1.4 million and Monte Veebee at $900,000 at last year’s Inglis Easter Sale.

Media World, superbly bred by champion sire Written Tycoon and the first foal of two-time Group 3 winner Meryl, gave Snowden a record fifth victory in the Clarendon Stakes following his previous successes with Creator (2019), Meursault (2014), Kanzan (2009) and Fravashi (2008).

Meryl was raced by leading owners Francis and Christine Cook who bred Media World and have retained shares in the colt with Yulong Stud.

The Clarendon Stakes has a habit of producing a good horse most years – Zardozi won the two-year-old race at Hawkesbury last year and trained on to win the Group 1 VRC Oaks this season – and it could have some emerging talent produced Saturday.

Monte Veebee, trained by Robert and Luke Price, closed strongly late and is also likely to be ready for the rich two-year-old races in Brisbane.

Always definitely planning to end almost a thousand days of drought

–Mitch Cohen

Jockey Tim Clark helped Always Sure break a near-thousand-day drought with a strong third-place finish at Hawkesbury on Saturday.

Always Sure had not tasted success since August 21, 2021, before returning to the winning list in the Midway Benchmark 72 Handicap (1500m).

Clark had the son of Not A Single Doubt traveling well in the three-wide line and released him in the middle of the track at the top of the straight.

Always Sure ($8) worked well to beat the Scott Aspery-trained Uzziah ($10) by half a length, with David Payne’s State Of America ($15) in third.

“I thought he had written the writing on the wall his first few runs back,” Clark said.

“He was ready to finish third after a long period.

“He was able to race a little closer at a gentler pace and sprinted uphill quickly, but got a bit lost when he got there. I thought he built this preparation well.”

Always Sure has had several homes in his career, with Wyong rider Sara Ryan taking over as his fifth trainer last year.

She gave Always Sure just one run in his first campaign for the stable, before the gelding was sidelined for over a year.

Ryan devised a plan to give the six-year-old three Midway runs and have him peak third.

“He came back in good order,” Ryan said.

“This is the first time he has had a good preparation with me without interruptions and he has just worked his way up to this level.

“He can now go to another Midway, so we’ll take it race by race with him and maybe he’ll even take it a step further now.”