Brilliant Return for Opal Ridge

Tara Madgwick - Saturday March 18

Exciting Rubick filly Opal Ridge was first up form a spell in the Listed ATC Darby Munro Quality (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday and showed her class when steaming home to run straight past the colts and geldings for a stylish victory.

Opal Ridge scores her first stakes win - image Steve Hart

Trained at Scone by Luke Pepper, Opal Ridge showed good potential in several stakes races last spring before closing out her campaign winning the inaugural $500,000 ATC Tapp Craig over 1400m beating Pericles, who was a close second as favourite in the Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas.

Advertisement

Given the strength of that form, she always looked to be in the mix and under a cool ride from Tyler Schiller overcame a bad gate to win by two lengths running away.

“When she drew gate 16, I said to Tyler ride her quiet and take her back, she’s got a good turn of foot,” said Luke Pepper.

“What a ride, he just got through and she as dominant. I think she can get better as she’s still maturing and I think she can get a bit  further, so the world is her oyster, but we’ll celebrate today.”

Opal Ridge was a $20,000 Inglis Classic bargain!

A modest $20,000 Inglis Classic purchase for R Hunt from the Carramar Park draft, Opal Ridge has been a model of consistency with five wins and two placings from eight starts earning in excess of $530,000 in prizemoney.

Bred by Wayne and Pauline Alchin, Opal Ridge is the ninth stakes-winner for Swettenham Stud's Rubick and is the first foal from winning Myboycharlie (IRE) mare Chadana, a half-sister to Group III ATC Adrian Knox Stakes winner Candelara, who was also third in the Group I ATC Australian Oaks.

Chadana was on-sold by Carramar Park for $12,000 through Inglis Digital in 2021 to Queensland based Fig Tree Farm.

The yearling Headwater colt from Chadana was not surprisingly bought by Luke Pepper at Magic Millions Book 2 from the draft of Fig Tree Farm for $80,000.

Advertisment

Race Result - Irresistible Pools Darby Munro LR 1200m

Rosehill Track: Good(4) Time: 1:09.43
1
Opal Ridge
- 3f Rubick (AUS) x Chadana (AUS) (Myboycharlie (IRE))
Tnr: Luke Pepper Rdr: Tyler Schiller 55
2
2.0
Kote
- 3g Choisir (AUS) x Soffraaj (AUS) (Iffraaj (GB))
Tnr: A J Cummings Rdr: N Rawiller 58
3
2.2
Spacewalk
- 3g Exosphere (AUS) x Benenden (AUS) (Dubawi (IRE))
Tnr: James Cummings Rdr: J Bowman 56
4
2.7
Swiss Exile
- 3c Pariah (AUS) x Swiss Francs (NZ) (Swiss Ace (AUS))
Tnr: Annabel Neasham Rdr: C Schofield 59
5
3.1
Economics
- 3c Capitalist (AUS) x Anabaa's Legacy (NZ) (Anabaa (USA))
Tnr: Annabel Neasham Rdr: J B Mc Donald 58
6
3.4
Dashing Legend
- 3f Snitzel (AUS) x Kneeling (AUS) (Encosta De Lago (AUS))
Tnr: M, W & J Hawkes Rdr: B Avdulla 56
7
4.0
Nettuno
- 3c I Am Invincible (AUS) x Saint Minerva (AUS) (Galileo (IRE))
Tnr: T J Gollan Rdr: Ryan Maloney 58.5
8
4.3
Sacred Satono
- 3c Satono Aladdin (JPN) x Belle Joie (NZ) (Mellifont (USA))
Tnr: B Wallace & G Cooksley Rdr: K Mc Evoy 58.5
9
4.4
Midnight In Tokyo
- 3f Kobayashi (AUS) x Orabelle (AUS) (Casino Prince (AUS))
Tnr: Kacy Fogden Rdr: Regan Bayliss 54
10
5.5
Insurrection
- 3g Russian Revolution (AUS) x Marple Miss (AUS) (Not A Single Doubt (AUS))
Tnr: Michael Freedman Rdr: M Zahra 56.5
11
6.2
Felix Majestic
- 3g Smart Missile (AUS) x Lauren's Magic (AUS) (Beneteau (AUS))
Tnr: G R Nickson Rdr: Ms K O'Hara 56
12
8.2
Hell I Am
- 3g Hellbent (AUS) x Forest Circle (USA) (Arch (USA))
Tnr: J A O'Shea Rdr: Damian Lane 57
13
16.0
Cinderella Days
- 3f Astern (AUS) x Ofcourseican (AUS) (Mossman (AUS))
Tnr: Joseph Pride Rdr: S Clipperton 54
More Reading...
Blueblood Lonhro Colt Wins G1 Spring Champion
At the start of August we ran a story about the 3YO’s that were entered for this year Cox Plate and aside from the usual suspects there were some ‘Cox Plate dreamers’ and one of them was unraced Lonhro colt Attica, who capped his meteoric rise to fame with a thrilling victory in the $2million Group I ATC Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Stefi Magnetica Smashes Through $7m Mark
Already a dual Group1 winner, Bjorn Baker’s 5yo All Too Hard mare Stefi Magnetica added the $2m Group 2 ATC The Invitational (1400m) to her impressive record, with her earnings smashing through the $7m mark for her ownership group headed by the Cunningham family.
G2 McEwen Stakes To Jigsaw - Fifth Black Type Victory
A previous Group 2 winner at Moonee Valley a few years back, Jigsaw’s connections would’ve headed into Saturday’s Group 2 MVRC McEwen Stakes (1200m) with a level of confidence despite tackling last start Group 1 MVRC Manikato Stakes winner Charm Stone.
New SW Ace High- She's a Hustler Continues Kiwi Bred Success
Talented five-year-old mare She’s A Hustler scored a game victory in the Gr.3 Tesio Stakes (2040m) at The Valley on Saturday continuing a landslide of Kiwi bred success in Australia this spring.
Von Hauke Wins G2 Crystal Mile - Half-Brother NZB Ready to Run
The Cliff Brown-trained Von Hauke swamped his rivals late under a patient rider from Ethan Brown to land the Gr.2 Crystal Mile (1600m) at The Valley on Saturday.
Invincible Colt Wins $1million G2 Callander Presnell for Godolphin
Progressive I Am Invincible colt Ohope won the $1million ATC Tapp Craig (1400m) at his previous start, however was not rewarded officially with Black Type for that result, but he did achieve stakes-winner status at Randwick on Saturday when scoring a determined win over quality colt Rivellino in the $1million ATC Callander Presnell (1600m).
2025 Cox Plate Result - Fastnet Rock and Waller Quinella
A genuine champion sire should be able to produce the horses that win the very best races in the country in which they stand and the late great Fastnet Rock have us a demonstration of that when his high class Northern Hemisphere bred offspring Via Sistina (IRE) and Buckaroo (GB) fought out an epic finish to the $6million Group I MVRC WS Cox Plate (2040m) at Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Sires With Winners - Friday October 24
Here is the full list of 60 stallions which had winners throughout Australasia today with winners and result details.
Lindermann Cracks $4million in Earnings
Gelded after losing form following his tenacious victory in the 2023 Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas, the Chris Waller trained Lindemann has embraced life as a gelding and has been on fire this spring racking up a series of lucrative wins including the $750,000 Group III ATC Craven Plate (1800m) at Randwick on Saturday.
Rubick Filly Wins $500,000 Tapp Craig
The Randwick meeting on Saturday was cut short due to the dire state of the track with the richest race run carrying no Black Type, but $500,000 in cash with the inaugural ATC Tapp Craig (1400m) won by terrific filly Opal Ridge, who continued the run of success enjoyed by her sire Rubick.