Star Witness Sprinter Goes Two for Two

Tara Madgwick - Friday October 1

Four year-old Star Witness gelding Nervous Witness made a huge impression winning on debut at Sha Tin last month and he made it two wins in as many starts when scoring just as easily at the same venue in Friday.

Advertisement

Nervous Witness scores impressively - image HKJC

Trained by David Hayes and ridden by Zac Purton, Nervous Witness dashed through the 1000m Class Three sprint to win by nearly four lengths in 55.24 seconds, which was half a second quicker than his previous win.

Nervous Witness again stamped himself as a rare talent for Hayes, Purton and the da Silva family, who also raced superstar sprinter Silent Witness.

“He (Zac) said he’s a Group 1 horse, he said he got put under a lot of pressure from Joao Moreira, he said he just served it to him,” Hayes said.

“You’d prefer him not to have that pressure but it’s nice to see how he responded. He responded like a proper horse.

“We’re very lucky to have a lovely young team of horses (all Aussie bred) so it makes it easier to get up in the morning. They’re’ important horses all of them, we’ve got an excitement machine (Nervous Witness), a very impressive winner in the second (Lord Thunder, by night of Thunder (IRE)) and Master Montaro (by Toronado (IRE) won with some authority, like he’s going places.


“There’s a lot to look forward to out of the meeting.”
 



Purton was deeply impressed by Nervous Witness’ composure and power on the same day Silent Witness turned 22.

“It was very good. Predictably, as I thought pre-race, Moreira would try and torch him in the first half of the race – which he did, he really went out hard and tried to make it hard for both of us, really,” Purton said.

“My bloke, to his credit, it was only his second start in a race, he had to absorb all of that and he actually got stronger as the race went on. It was a really good performance. They just don’t do what he just did – it was special.

“He got it put to him today and he had to find and he didn’t just find, he put them away.”

A $110,000 Inglis Classic purchase from the Southern Cross Breeders draft, Nervous Witness is the second winner from Hadiklaim, a metro winner by War Pass (USA) that goes back to a US Black Type family.

Bred by Byerley Trading, Nervous Witness continues a great run of recent success for Star Witness, who is already the sire this season of Group II ATC Silver Shadow Stakes winner Swift Witness.

Star Witness is a Premium stallion, click for more information.

Star Witness stands at Widden Stud Victoria this spring at a fee of $16,500.

 

Visit the profile page for Star Witness

Star Witness in upcoming sales:
Advertisment
More Reading...
Star Witness Winners Impress
Hyped as the next big thing in Hong Kong sprinting after winning his first two starts last year in brilliant fashion, Nervous Witness was beaten at his next three starts when only placing, but bounced back in style at Happy Valley on Wednesday night.
Tarzino Stayer Wins G3 Geelong Cup
Trainer Paul Preusker will get another tilt at a Gr.1 Melbourne Cup (3200m) after Torranzino ran out a strong winner of the Gr.3 Geelong Cup (2400m) on Thursday.
Second Wootton Bassett Son Added to Coolmore Stallion Roster for 2026
Set to join Camille Pissarro as the second G1 winning son of Wootton Bassett on the stallion roster for Ireland in 2026 is Henri Matisse, who this time last year was about to claim his first G1 victory at the Breeders Cup meeting at Del Mar.
Breeding To Win – 2025 G1 MVRC Cox Plate
An emotional week in Australasian racing approaches its crescendo as we count down to the final Cox Plate before a radical new era in its history begins and we mourn the passing of one of its greatest champions.
Juvenile Trial Watch – Rosehill
The Rosehill trials on Friday morning featured a couple of juvenile heats and both winners came out of the Widden Stud draft at Magic Millions with one topping the sale at $2.8million and the other selling for a modest $150,000.
A Century of NZB National Yearling Sales Success: Cox Plate
Moonee Valley’s A$6m Group One WS Cox Plate (2040m) is known as the weight-for-age championship of Australasia and has been won by many of Australia and New Zealand’s greatest thoroughbreds.
Sires With Winners - Thursday October 23
Here is the full list of 26 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Good News Week for Geisel Park
Geisel Park’s black-type mare Laced Up Heels is in foal off a maiden cover to Champion Australian Sire Zoustar and an orphan foal has found a new mum.
Coolmore Favs get the Flemington Straight Experience in Jump Outs
Beiwacht, Beadman and Skyhook, three of the top four in the market for next month’s Group One Coolmore Stud Stakes had a jump out down the Flemington straight on Friday with Beadman quite the eye-catcher.
$400,000 Invincible Filly a Grand Investment
A three-quarter sister-in-blood to dual Group I winning mare Charm Stone, stakes-placed I Am Invincible filly Naifah always looked well bought at the 2025 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale for $400,000.