The $1.5million Group I ATC Winterbottom Stakes (1200m) is set to offer up something special at Ascot on Saturday as the Overpass camp seek to achieve something that has never been done!
Australian racing history will be made if the mighty Overpass can win his third Winterbottom Stakes.
Two time winners of WA's premier sprint race are Asteroid (1953-55), the great mare La Trice (1970 -71), Belinda's Star (1975-76), Hardrada (2002-2003), Ortensia (2009-2011) and the mighty Queenslander Buffering (2013-2015) - but no horse has ever three-peated at Ascot! Click here to read more on the Winterbottom and it's rich history of stars.
So we move to the present and the small but select Winterbottom field of 2025.
Overpass arrives in Perth intent on reasserting his authority over the 1200m Ascot course.
It's been a period of complete domination which has earned this eastern-stater the title “King of Ascot” - until a shock unplaced run in The Quokka in April knocked a couple of baubles off his crown.
Bjorn Baker’s stable star will meet his Quokka nemesis again in this year's Winterbottom, the appropriately named Jokers Grin.
The Joker was the wildcard in The Quokka pack, a young sprinter on a meteoric rise facing his acid test against a G1 quality field - though his superb victory in the rich slot race didn't confer on him the title of G1 winner.
Now the local hero gets his chance to claim that title, and he arrives on the back of two scintillating wins against a former Winterbottom Stakes runner up in Oscar’s Fortune (Rich Enuff) - now back in the west with original trainer Dion Luciani, he will line up in the big one again on Saturday.
Jokers Grin lumped 59.5kg second up to confidently defeat Oscars and fellow Winterbottom rival Repossession (Sessions) in the G3 Colonel Reeves where both carried only 57.5kg.
It's difficult to imagine either of them having the wherewithal to turn the tables on Jokers Grin, but in horse racing anything can happen!
Unlike honorary homeboy Overpass, another formidable veteran Rey Magnerio (Magnus) ventures west for the first time.
Rey may not have seen Ascot before but chances are he's going to love the place. The progeny of his sire the much-missed Magnus, mostly thrive here - including the Winterbottom winner Magnifisio and third placed Malaguerra.
The Magnus breed embody that well known adage “age shall not weary them”
Six year old mare Benedetta, now trained by Ciaron Maher, is at longer odds - but the gallant daughter of Hellbent rarely runs a poor race and loves firm tracks.
She’s a G1 Goodwood winner and comes out of the G1 Champions Sprint. She commands respect and mares have a pretty good record in this race, particularly since it became a G1.
Others in the small but select field are the in-form Rope Them In (Playing God) - a close up fourth in last year's Winterbottom, and a horse with a powerhouse finish on his day
Annabel and Rob Archibald couldn't sneak off with two Railways in a row, though their runner Depth Of Character ran a great race from a hopeless barrier.
Can they still come away with a G1? They've entrusted Libertad with the task and the five year old entire has come west with a point to prove.
Star three year old filly and Placid Ark heroine Luana Miss carries a featherweight and is shooting to give her young sire Bivouac a second G1 winner after Beiwacht won the Golden Rose at the start of spring..
Longshots Man Crush and Spacewalk have been scratched from the final field, leaving just nine runners to contest the $1.5 million G1 Winterbottom Stakes of 2025!
Top Pick: JOKERS GRIN
I’m tipping The Joker to have the last laugh in what promises to be another Ascot thriller for the ages.
It’s going to be tough getting past Overpass - and who knows what else might jump out of the ground on the day - but Jokers Grin simply can’t be faulted!
Everything he has done in his short career to date - and his breeding - says his best is still ahead of him, and that it’s time to notch up that first G1 success.
Jokers Grin and his 77 year old trainer Bernie Miller are bona fide cult heroes in the west.
The Maschino gelding’s last start G3 Colonel Reeves triumph was his ninth win from twelve starts and it upped his prize money haul to a whopping $2,625,455, largely due to his famous Quokka victory.
Jokers Grin was superb in the Colonel Reeves, giving Winterbottom rivals Oscars Fortune and Repossession - who seemed to receive every possible chance - significant weight, but he was a class above.
The five year old looks to have furnished into an even bigger and better athlete after a spell and that’s typical of the progeny of his sire Maschino, who is renowned for throwing size, power and racetrack longevity into his get.
Bernie bred his superstar and reigning WA HOTY from his winning Barely A Moment mare Walk In Beauty - from a repeat mating to Maschino, after her first visit to the son of Encosta De Lago produced the trainer's G3 winner Cup Night.
That galloper was a multiple stakes winning sprinter and the match was even more successful next time around!
3 x G1 winning sprinter Barely A Moment (tail male descendant of Damascus through his sire Gilded Time) threw dual G1 winning sprinter Moment Of Change, who was beaten a nose by champion Buffering in the 2013 Winterbottom.
The dam of Walk In Beauty was by the very good broodmare sire Tale Of The Cat, while her grand dam Bank Burst was a stakes winning daughter of the mighty Vain and she became a prolific producer of durable sprinter milers.
The third dam of Jokers Grin was the talented race mare Dam Burst by Bold Lad, a stakes placed, multiple black type producer.
This female line is of great and consistent quality going back to the remarkable mare Rainbird, winner of the 1945 Melbourne Cup, a branch of Colonial Family 7.
From Rainbird descends the great NZ sire and broodmare sire Centaine, and the famous “Tennessee” family as well as top performers like Malaguerra, Aloha, Seabrook, Snitzerland, Nina Haraka, Foreplay and Rain Affair to name a few!
Jokers Grin is bred
5f x 5f to Mr Prospector
4m x 4f to Danehill sex balanced
His dam Walk In Beauty has had five foals by Maschino and of three to race two are stakes winners!
Waiting in the wings are a 2024 filly and a 2025 colt
The Joker’s regular jockey Patrick Carbery is back aboard after missing the Colonel Reeves ride due to concussion. Carbery reluctantly handed the reins, and plenty of instructions, to good friend Shaun O’Donnell for that ride.
O’Donnell executed perfectly under pressure, but now the Three Musketeers and three best mates are back looking for G1 glory for the locals!
Joker, Bernie and Paddy - can they topple the King’s crown again?
Jokers Grin and Patrick Carbery jump from barrier 6.
Next best: OVERPASS
Seven year old Overpass has made his sixth journey to the west and what riches those previous trips have accumulated
He's a back to back Quokka winner (23-24) and a back to back Winterbottom hero as well. Impressive stuff.
His recent Everest run - his third attempt to climb that mountain - was arguably the best of them!
Coming off a spell to finish only one and a half lengths off the world's fastest sprinter Ka Ying Rising, says the hulking son of Vancouver is far from a spent force at the highest level.
The key is that Overpass has been thoroughly freshened for this. His unplaced Quokka run came when second up which the form guide says is his weakest run.
So he’s fresh, but he’s still “second up”. Will it make a difference?
Few horses in world racing have given their connections a better return on investment, or a more thrilling ride, than Overpass!
Darby Racing and Will Johnson teamed up to buy him for just $75,000 at the 2020 Easter Yearling Sale out of the draft of his breeder Corumbene Stud.
He has now won 10 races and placed in six from 33 starts, and is a dual G1 winner of more than $12 million in stakes.
Overpass is the best of five winners from as many to race for the winning Exceed and Excel mare Walkway, whose dam Boardwalk Bell (Bellotto) is a half-sister to 9 time G1 winner Northerly.
No wonder the big boy just loves it over here.
After foaling a full sister to Overpass in 2023, the now 18 year old Walkway is still going strong.
Her latest offering is an Anamoe colt this spring!
Overpass is bred
Northern Dancer 5m,5m x 5m,5m
Danehill 3f x 3m sex balanced
A standout feature of his pedigree is linebreeding to the Blue Hen Doctrine, winner of the Coronation Stakes.
Her grand daughters Beneficiary and Imagery are key individuals in the breeding of Overpass - the first is the ancestress of his sire Vancouver and the second of his third damsire, the influential Bellwater.
Imagery was a full sister to Solario, the damsire of breedshaper Royal Charger.
Tail male lines to Royal Charger via Hail To Reason (x3), Sir Ivor and to daughter Royal Society (ancestress of Medaglia D'Oro) boost this powerful nick.
Overpass is extensively linebred and sex balanced to Native Dancer, My Babu, Ribot and Bull Dog with duplications of Blue Hens Almahmoud, Lalun, Myrtlewood, Flower Bowl and La Troienne.
Josh Parr and Overpass have drawn ideally in barrier 3.
Roughie: BENEDETTA
She's tough, talented, a seasoned WFA performer and loves fast ground.
Her grandsire I Am Invincible has thrown two Winterbottom winners - Viddora and Voodoo Lad.
Her sire Hellbent is a fantastic getter of particularly fast females, just like dad!
Benedetta comes out of a solid run in the G1 Champions Sprint run on a bog track, in which another G1 winning Hellbent daughter Magic Time.was just pipped. (Ironically, Magic Time descends from a WA Oaks winner, makes you wonder how she'd go here!)
But back to Benedetta who flies on top of the ground. Most of her best runs have been on firm tracks, including her G1 Goodwood triumph of last season (her last win).
She has been unlucky in two Newmarkets.
Now trained by Ciaron Maher, the six year old hasn't won for a while but nor has she run a poor race. Her last placing was second in the G1 William Reid at The Valley early this year, so despite her good performances on big tracks that suggests the mare might enjoy the tighter Ascot circuit, and as a backmarker the small field suits.
Benedetta was a bargain buy!
She runs in the famous colours of Laurence Eales that were carried by Melbourne Cup winner Shocking and was a $75,000 Inglis Premier purchase for Eales Racing Syndications from the Mill Park draft.
Benedetta was bred by Brenton and Liz Parker, who retain a share in her ownership.
She now has the overall record of 8 wins and 6 placings from 24 starts for just a tick under $2.5 million in prizemoney..
A half-sister to G2 placed Whatfox and smart performer Sunset Dreaming, she is the best of three winners from the G2 placed Domesday mare Whatalovelyday and her damline is elite - going back to the great VRC Oaks winner Leica Show from whom descend G1 winners such as Leica Guv, Light Fantastic, Pharoah and now Benedetta!
Whatalovelyday's King's Legacy colt was a $160,000 buy for Bjorn Baker Racing / Clarke Bloodstock at the 2024 Inglis Premier Yearling sale.
Named Whatalegacy, his career is off to a bright start with two wins and a second from his three racetrack appearances
Whatalovelyday foaled a full brother to Benedetta in 2024 who will be part of the Segenhoe consignment at the upcoming MM Gold Coast yearling sale as Lot 972. and this spring she produced a colt to Zoustar.
Benedetta is bred
Danzig 5m, 5m x 5m
Green Desert 4m,4m x
With Red Ransom, Kenmare, Danehill, Century and Showdown carried by her first four dams and the all conquering “Vinnie” brand of speed through her sire, Benedetta's pedigree possesses a potent blend of speed and stamina.
This is her third run of the prep and she does tend to get better with a bit of racing.
Benedetta and Dan Stackhouse are reunited and this has been a most positive combination in the past. They go for G1 glory from barrier 9.
Blowout: LIBERTAD
Good looking five year old entire Libertad hopes to depart Ascot a G1 winner and with a stud career in his sights!
He is a horse that has shown glimpses of G1 ability in a career which has had a far from straightforward trajectory.
The son of Russian Revolution was a $210,000 Inglis Ready 2 Race purchase for Annabel Neasham Racing Pty Ltd from the Nolen Racing draft, and he was a successful pinhook having been sourced from Inglis Classic for $40,000 from the Rheinwood Pastoral draft.
Libertad races for a big syndicate headed by Trilogy Racing - the racing and breeding partnership of Jason Stenning and Sean Dingwall who own Blue Gum Farm - and carries their colours.
Bred by Rheinwood in partnership, Libertad is the third winner from Electric Charge, a winning half sister (by the increasingly important broodmare sire Charge Forward) to G3 winner Miss Darcey from stakes winner Miss Bussell by Danzero.
The lightly raced Libertad has had 16 starts for 4 wins and $873,950 in earnings.
His career began brilliantly with wins in the G2 Kindergarten Stakes at two and G3 San Domenico Stakes at three, at which point he was undefeated from three starts and looking like he could be anything.
At three the colt also ran a great third to future topliner Joliestar in the G2 Arrowfield Sprint.
Then it all went awry. Lost form, a battle against serious septic infection, a stress fracture - nothing was going right and the stallion was away from the track for 12 months.
But Annabel and Rob Archibald have patiently brought their charge through the dark times. They were rewarded in May when Libertad posted a stirring G2 win in the Victory Stakes at Eagle Farm.
He comes here off a gutsy fourth in the G1 Champions Sprint at Flemington on an unsuitable bog track.
Libertad is the best of four winners from five to race for Charge Forward mare Electric Charge.
The mare foaled a colt by young sire Prague in 2022, and a 2023 filly by him which the Neasham/Archibald team along with William Johnson Bloodstock paid $180,000 for at this year’s Magic Millions Gold Coast Sale.
Named Electric Bliss she is yet to trial.
Trilogy came out of a hotly contested bidding war on top when they purchased Electric Charge for $360,000 from Rheinwood Pastoral at the 2023 Inglis April (Late) Online Sale in foal to the dual G3 winning Prague (Redoute's Choice).
Unfortunately, the mare slipped her Ozzmosis foal this season.
Libertad is one of thirteen stakes winners to date for Newgate Farm's uber-classy Snitzel stallion Russian Revolution, a dual G1 winning speedster possessed of truly elite acceleration from the incredible sire-making Fanfreluche family (Encosta De Lago, Flying Spur, etc etc)
Libertad is bred
Danehill 4m x 4m
He descends from the G1 winning Sir Tristram daughter Lurestina who has been a prolific source of stakes winners
Hers is a branch of family 13e which goes back to Eryholme, the ancestress of breedshaper Fairway who is a prominent genetic force in both Charge Forward and Danzero - giving Libertad's dam a very high concentration of this speedy blood.
Fairway's half brother Pharos became the great grandsire of Northern Dancer - thus Russian Revolution's descent from his great daughter Ciboulette is particularly interesting here.
Libertad possesses sex balanced linebreeding to In Reality, Bletchingly, Sir Ivor and Mr Prospector for an abundance of speed! His pedigree also boasts the almost obligatory sprinter's duplication of relatives Danzig and Bletchingly.
It's a genuine stallion's pedigree in waiting.
Can Libertad take it to the next level?
He will jump from barrier 2 with Jamie Mott to ride.
