An imported son of the great So You Think, Knights Order (IRL) went straight to the front under Rachel King and proceeded to grind her opponents into the ground in Saturday’s $2,000,000 Group 1 Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) at Randwick.
Purchased by Mckeever Bloodstock / Gai Waterhouse Racing for 250,000gns at the 2018 Tattersalls Autumn Horses in Training Sale, the 6yo gelding was winning for the first time since the Group II Brisbane Cup at Eagle Farm last June.
The 7yo gelding had won four of his nine starts in Great Britain for William Jarvis.
With King gradually upping the pace, Knights Order (IRL) had the field off the bit before turning for home.
He kept up a solid gallop to defeat Sheraz (FR) (Sea The Stars) by two lengths with Daqiansweet Junior (Sweet Orange) a further two and a half lengths back in third.
“I’s a fantastic feeling, we’ve got a great bunch of owners here involved with this horse, they really enjoyed that win. It was very satisfying to be able to deliver for them,” Bott said.
“He loved the conditions, so I was really confident with him in regards to that.
“He’s had a great lead-up building towards this particular race. He’s had plenty of miles, he’s proven over the two miles before Brisbane Cup winner so I was confident on a lot of fronts there. He just needed things to go our way in the race. When Rachel (King) was able to dictate in the way that she did, it was a really calculated ride by her so she’s got to take a lot of credit for that. She was able to give him every chance and opportunity from there and he was too strong.”
“Over the years she (King) has put so much hard work into the stables. I’m glad we were able to reward her with a Group 1 win.
“He was purchased out of Europe, they’ve obviously got the superior staying bloodlines coming down here. He took a good 12 months to acclimatise, but I think we saw the potential there with his win in the Brisbane Cup.
“It might have been too quick of a turnaround for him into the spring, he didn’t quite come up. But off a good break, he was able to come here with fresh legs this campaign, and we’ve been able to see what he’s able to do when he gets the conditions to suit.”
A half-brother to the Grade II Santa Anita Oak Tree Derby winner Dark Islander (Singspiel) , Knight’s Order (IRE) is one of nine winners from the Woodman mare Lamanka Lass.
Knights Order (IRE) is the eighth Group 1 winner for Coolmore Stud’s o You Think, whose day was just about to get a whole lot better.
