Swettenham Stud's Toronado (IRE) enjoyed a red-letter day at Flemington with three winners and a second on the ten-race card.
In the opening race over 1600m the Toronado 7-year-old Beerhunter was a fighting second to the promising Bermadez.
The 4-year-old Toronado mare One Last Kiss scored over 2500m for Dan O'Sullivan and Luke Currie before another 4-year-old daughter of Toronado, Southern Fire, a sister to Group II Matriarch Stakes winner Affair To Remember, squeezed through along the fence under Mickaelle Michel land the Tour D' Horse Trophy (1200m).
Six races in, and Toronado (IRE) sired his third winner when Mark Zahra threaded his way through the field to land the VRC Life Member John Dale Mile (1600m) on the Robbie Lang-trained El Soleado.
A homebred for owner/breeders Colleen & Kevin Bamford, El Soleado had placed at his previous four starts. The 4-year-old gelding advanced his record to three wins, three seconds, and two thirds from 12 starts with earnings of $171,600.
“I thought he was a query at a mile, so I planned to ride him cold,” Zahra said.
“He was slow out, allowing me to go to the fence. When the time came to get him out I would have bowled over three of my fellow jockeys, so I stayed in, and the split came at the right time. A stride later, it would have been too late.
“To his credit, he got the gap and knuckled down.
“He has a lot of talent but is not the best out of the machines. He is a 1400m/ miler type and will pick up a few races this time of year.”
El Soleado is the best of two winners from as many to race for the imported Monsun mare with the very Australian name, Sunnyvale (GER), who hails from the family of Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe hero Sagace and Prix Royal Oak winner Star Lift.
