‘You had to be buoyed by his last start’ – Raging Force set for another step up the ladder

By Trevor Marshallsea

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Latecomer Raging Force (Cosmic Force) has had to play catch-up in striving to reach the top echelon of the nation’s young horses, but trainer Peter Snowden feels he can again show he belongs there in Saturday’s Run To The Rose (Gr 2, 1200m).

The Darby Racing runner did show up early in one way, winning impressively at Sydney’s first official two-year-old trials at Kensington last September.

That earned him second-favouritism for Randwick’s Breeders’ Plate (Gr 3, 1000m) but he could manage only sixth.

On closer inspection, he was found to be sore behind following the run, precipitating a lengthy spell of a few months. Hopes were held for a return in the new year but immaturity coupled with noticeable weight gain triggered the decision to geld him, and spell him some more.

The autumn passed him by, while Run To The Rose rivals such as Nepotism (Brutal), Rivellino (Too Darn Hot), Wodeton (Wootton Bassett), Devil Night (Extreme Choice), Skyhook (Written Tycoon) and the race’s sole filly Tempted (Street Boss) shared much of the two-year-old spoils.

Finally unleashed on June 1, however, Raging Force has been a revelation, winning all four starts since then.

Last time out he stepped up to black type for his first major test – in the San Domenico Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) – and passed with flying colours as favourite, leading, steadying after laying in on Wodeton at the 100 metres, and coming away again to score by 1.4 lengths.

This Saturday’s examination is still tougher. While he beat six home last start, he’ll face a 15-horse field in the Run To The Rose, jumping from gate eight for new rider Zac Lloyd after Tommy Berry was suspended for that San Domenico tangle with Wodeton.

Still, he’s favourite at around $3.20 ahead of Wodeton and Tempted at $5, and it’s a rating with which Snowden agrees ahead of a run that will help inform which stallion-making race the Run To The Rose’s lone gelding will head towards – Rosehill’s Golden Rose (Gr 1, 1400m) or Flemington’s Coolmore Stud Stakes (Gr 1, 1200m).

Asked if Raging Force had caught up to the cream of his crop, Snowden said: “I think so.”

“He had a setback after his first start, and had some time out, and in that time out he got very heavy, and he was pretty coltish,” the trainer told ANZ News.

“So we decided to geld him. That turned him into a racehorse, not a breeding proposition, but it’s made the horse. It’s made him focus a lot more. He showed good ability early but he’s definitely better now that he’s gelded.

“He’s not as heavy as he was and his attitude is very, very good, so his owners have done the right thing and they’ve got a nice horse on their hands because of it.”

Snowden was full of praise for Raging Force’s San Domenico triumph, in which he became the fifth stakes winner from 85 runners (5.88 per cent) for Newgate Farm’s nine-year-old sire Cosmic Force (Deep Field), who’s standing his sixth season this spring at a a slightly increased $16,500 (inc GST).

“You had to be buoyed by his last start. He won well,” Snowden said.

“Wodeton was the second favourite and he put it to my horse. My horse had to dig really deep. He did interfere with Wodeton, but he pulled right away and won by nearly two lengths. Wodeton was never going to beat him.”

Bred by veterinarian Richard McClenahan of Mullaglass Stud as the fourth foal out of Melbourne Listed placegetter Miss Loren (Stryker), and bought by Darby Racing at Inglis Classic for $150,000, Raging Force should also be undaunted by the likelihood of a soft track, with his four wins scored in the Soft five-to-seven range.

Snowden is also untroubled by Saturday being his first try beyond 1100 metres.

“I’m pretty sure he’ll get a good 1200 metres,” the veteran trainer said.

“He’s in good order, he’s come on well since his last start and we’re happy with him.

“He’s got to improve again for Saturday, but I can’t see anything wrong with the horse. He hasn’t gone backwards, so I’m hoping he can step up to the level again on Saturday.”

Golden Slipper runner-up Wodeton – striving to become Wootton Bassett’s first Australian-born stakes winner – has on his side the likelihood of improvement gained from his first-up run in the San Domenico.

Likewise Skyhook, an $8.50 chance, who humped 60.5 kilograms to victory first-up in the quality handicap The Rosebud (Listed, 1100m).

Slipper third placegetter Tempted and ATC Champagne Stakes (Gr 1, 1600m) winner Nepotism ($11) are resuming, while another interesting first-up contender is Newgate-China Horse Club’s North England (Farnan).

The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott–trained colt was another winner at the first official two-year-old trials, and shot to the top of Golden Slipper betting after a Breeders’ Plate third and a win in the $1 million Golden Gift (1100m).

However, he didn’t quite fulfil expectations in the autumn, although a disappointing first-up fifth in the Todman Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m) gave rise to a decent 3.9 lengths sixth in the Slipper, at $21, after racing on the pace.

North England then backed up to win the juvenile sprinters’ consolation of the Kindergarten Stakes (Gr 3, 1100m) before a spell.

He’s been fittened up for his resumption with three barrier trials – for a third, a fourth, and a 0.94-length second to four-year-old sprint sensation Private Harry (Harry Angel).

Still, Waterhouse was a length short of her usual confidence in previewing North England’s run this Saturday, intimating the $23 chance would be better suited second-up in his main target of the Golden Rose on September 27.

“He’s a lovely horse,” Waterhouse told ANZ. “He’s matured and grown beautifully. I was looking at him yesterday and thinking how well he’d grown and developed.

“I’ve always thought he was an extremely talented horse. I always thought he was one of our best two-year-olds.

“He turned in a fabulous run in the Slipper. We don’t have any better two-year-olds than what runs in the Slipper, and he wasn’t beaten far.

“This is his test to see if he shapes up against the best of the best but he’s got the right attitude.

“Being a realist, he’s going into a hard race against some very competitive colts. Whatever he does, he’ll improve on it.

“Hopefully he’ll be able to be a Golden Rose horse. That’s what one dreams of, because if they’re a Golden Rose horse then they’re a stallion proposition.”

While North England has led and faded in his two attempts at 1200 metres, Waterhouse resumed normal service in discussing that distance this Saturday.

“That’s one thing I’m not worried about,” she said. “He’ll run it with his eyes shut.”

Running against North England’s chance, however, is that Tim Clark will have to jump him from the widest gate.

“He’s got good gatespeed,” Waterhouse said. “Has he got quite the speed to get over from that gate and lead? I’m not sure, but he’ll be right in the mix.”

Rivellino shone in winning his first three starts including the Inglis Millennium (RL, 1100m) and Skyline Stakes (Gr 2, 1200m), before powering home for fourth in the Slipper.

While he conspicuously made ground for fourth in the 1100-metre San Domenico, trainer Kris Lees feels he’ll need still more than the extra 100 metres of the Run To The Rose – for which he’s a $21 shot – as he builds towards the 1400-metre Golden Rose.

“He’s come along well from the San Domenico,” Lees told ANZ. “I thought that was a very good run under the circumstances. It was a small field, they didn’t go very hard in the first half of it, and he had to come from the back.

“Whether he’ll find these a bit sharp over 1200 metres, I’m not sure. He’ll probably want even further.”