Taken straight to the front by James McDonald, Shared Ambition (IRE) led at every call in Saturday’s Group III Neville Sellwood Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill to add a second stakes success over two years since his first.
Ridden by James McDonald for trainer Chris Waller, Shared Ambition kept up a relentless gallop in the straight to defeat Entente (Dundeel) by with the heavily backed favourite Master Of Wine (IRE) (Maxios) in third.
The 5yo son of Born To Sea (IRE) was coming off a close-up sixth behind Homesman (USA) in the Group 1 Australian Cup at Flemington.
Shared Ambition (IRE) arrived in Australia with two consecutive wins in Ireland under his belt. He ran that sequence up to five with two wins at Caulfield and a success at Flemington.
First-up after a spell, the gelded son Born To Sea (IRE) finished third at Warwick Farm before opening his stakes account in the Listed Randwick City Stakes.
It has been leaner pickings since, although he has placed four times at stakes level.
Purchased by George Murphy for €44,000 out of the Parkway Farm draft at the 2017 Goffs Sportsman's Fillies Sale, Shared Ambition (IRE) advances his record to eight wins, three seconds, and two thirds from 20 starts with earnings of $647,181.
Chris Waller praised James McDonald for his initiative as it was not the intention to lead.
“It was a tricky draw. James’ first plan was to try and slot in third and fourth, but that didn’t quite eventuate,” Waller revealed.
“So, he rolled forward and actually did quite a bit of work early, but it was good to see him back off the speed in the middle stages.
“I guess a horse being in front, they can do what they want and not be dictated to. When it’s a stop-start affair or a big field, it’s just like driving a car on the motorway, and you can get a bit frustrated. So he took that out of the equation and made it his own race.
“We reset our sights after the spring. We just lowered them and thought we’d target these types of races.
“Realistically, they’re his races. It would be wishful thinking to say we could freshen him up and bring him back in seven days for a Doncaster. I think we tried it last year, and it didn’t work. So, I’ll have a chat with the owners and see what they want to do, but I think there’s a JRA Plate or something similar in two or three weeks.”
A son of Galileo’s and Sea The Star’s half-brother Born To Sea (IRE), Shared Ambition is the best of six winners from eight to race out of the Dr Devious mare Almansa (Dr Devious).
A winner at Deauville, Almansa is a half-sister to Listed winners Alaiyma (Refuse To Bend) and Alaysha (Barathea), who was runner-up in the Grade 1 EP Taylor Stakes at Woodbine and third in the Group 1 The One Thousand Guineas at Newmarket.
