When the Holy Roman Emperor gelding Numerinan (IRE) defeated the previous year's Derby favourite Sir Dragonet in the Listed Devoy Stakes at Naas in 2020, not even the most optimistic Irishman could foresee the riches that awaited the pair in Australia.
Sir Dragonet went to the top of the class later that year in the Group 1 MVRC WS Cox Plate before adding the Group 1 Tancred Stakes.
Numerinan (IRE) has been a slower burn, but he backed up his success in the Listed Gosford Gold Cup with an all-the-way triumph in Saturday’s $1,200,000 Group II Sky Racing Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm.
Ridden by Tommy Berry for Annable Neasham, the Teme Valley colour-bearer made all the running to defeat Kolding (Ocean Park) by a length with a further three-quarter of a length back to Yonkers (USA) (Medaglia D'oro) in third.
It was the second win in the race for Neasham after Zaaki (GB) last year.
“We nearly came via the Doomben Cup, but I spoke to Richard Ryan, who very kindly sent me the horse on behalf of Teme Valley. He does a great job, and obviously I was very excited when he sent him over here,” Neasham said.
“The whole idea was to try and chase the good prizemoney and the good racing that we’ve got here.
“We hadn’t raced him sparingly at the start of the prep, so we decided to keep his legs fresh for this and I actually rang Richard earlier in the week and said how do you think he’ll go on the good track because he’s got good form on a good track the couple of times he’s tried it.
“He said, ‘he’ll go well but I’m unsure if it’s going to be firm’. I said, ‘it’s going to be firm here compared to what he’s seen in Ireland’, but he relished it.
“It was a superb ride by Tommy. He took the race by the scruff of the neck.
“He actually had one start last prep, and I was quite confident going into the Epsom with him, and he got kicked at trackwork that week, so that’s why we only saw him once then.
“He’s run well every time this preparation and he’s just kept on improving. I think we can probably set our sights on something nice in the spring now.
“I’ll talk to the connections, and we’ll work out where we go with him now, but I think after the performance he put in here today, he deserves to be set for something nice now.”
Bred by Whisperview Trading, Numerian (IRE) advances his record to five wins, six seconds, and four thirds from 27 starts with earnings of $1,128,323.
The 6yo son of former shuttler Holy Roman Emperor (IRE), is the best of three winners from four to race out of the unraced High Chaparral mare Delicate Charm.
