Boxers talk about “going the distance” and that was the million dollar question about Robbie Griffith’s tough Magnus gelding Rey Magnerio, who took his earnings to $2million on Saturday with victory in the $1.5million Group III WATC Gold Rush (1400m), the final feature race of The Pinnacles carnival at Ascot.
Six year old Rey Magnerio was attempting 1400m for the first time in his career while his seven year old heavyweight rival Overpass (Vancouver) was attempting to get a result on the board beyond 1200m at the fifth time of asking.
The scratching of reigning Western Australian HOTY Jokers Grin (Maschino) from the G3 WFA contest earlier in the week was disappointing, but a new local hero had stepped up to ensure this was not only to be a Sydney V Melbourne showdown!
Bob Peter’s super classy Maurice gelding Cosmic Crusader was backing up a week after winning the G1 Northerly Stakes at 1800m, how would that go?
The punters weren’t bothered at all.
“In Bob we trust” they reckoned, and loaded up on the Michael Grantham trained five year old, sending him out a very warm favourite.
Having opened up as favourite, Overpass drifted alarmingly as post time approached, but Rey had plenty of support in his corner.
Rope Them In (Playing God) was not without supporters either, sent out third favourite over the the Northerly runner up, Grant and Alana William's warhorse Western Empire (Iffraaj) - attempting back to back triumphs after he became the first local galloper to win The Gold Rush (previously the AJ Scahill Stakes) last year.
This season's impressive G2 Lee Steere Stakes winner Super Smink (Super One), third to Western Empire last year as favourite, had her fans - but the horse that beat her into second Magnificent Andy ( Magnus) was friendless this time .
Likewise the stablemate to Overpass, Bjorn Baker's Iowna Merc (Winning Rupert) and locals Oscar's Fortune (Rich Enuff) Aztec Ruler (Universal Ruler), Bustler (Playing God) and the durable veteran Comfort Me (also by Playing God).
The field went down to the start on what was an extremely hot Perth afternoon in front of a very well lubricated horde of Perth racegoers!
Super Smink possibly wasn't enjoying the summer heat as much - the mare got herself in a downright piggy mood at the barriers.
When they were all in and the starter had let them go, Josh Parr smoothly positioned Overpas in his customary front running role.
This was such a brave run from Overpass. It's slightly heartbreaking that the son of Vancouver was to go down so narrowly, fighting all the way, in both of what will likely be his last appearances at the racecourse he has made his own.
But time waits for no man, woman or horse.
Pike had Rey Magnerio midfield on the rail with Clint Johnston-Porter and Cosmic Crusader enjoying a similarly trouble free passage, as the distinctive blazed face and extravagant action of the big boy Overpass led them down the river side one more time.
Super Smink had gone out the back and it looked like it just wasn't her day, Western Empire and Rope Them In were keeping her company.
Magnificent Andy was trucking along happily behind the speed in his customary fashion and Comfort Me had surrendered his leader's hat without an argument.
Just as the field reached the point of the home turn, Overpass rocketed right away from them! Parr urged him to go full bore and he responded brilliantly. For a moment it looked like he had it in the bag. But Pike had produced Rey Magnerio at the perfect moment, and they were rapidly making ground on the big horse.
Meanwhile Johnston-Porter had gone through the gears on Cosmic Crusader and he was winding up down the outside with intent. Western Empire and Rope Them In had tried to go with him but couldn't. Super Smink had got her mojo back and was going better than both of them.
The winning post drew near and still Overpass was out in front. Pike drove hard and Rey dug deep, would he get there? Yes! The knockout was delivered in the last couple of strides. Rey Magnerio by a neck!
Cosmic had so much momentum he got up for second by a nose, and the gallant Sydneysider had to settle for third, but it was another great run from the champ.
“What a horse he is,” said a delighted Robbie Griffiths after the race.
Rey Magnerio had arrived in Perth with the G1 Winterbottom Stakes as the target, in which he finished a fast closing third behind Libertad and Overpass.
After his charge came through that run in perfect order, Griffiths elected to extend their WA summer trip and paid the late entry fee to contest the $1.5m The Gold Rush.
“He’s just so much fun for all of us that are involved in him. His Winterbottom run, Willie (Pike) thought he was a bit unlucky, and we waited to see how he came through that run before deciding on this race," he said.
"But honestly it was an easy decision to make, because the next morning he was bouncing around and felt great.
"He’s thriving in the WA climate and he’s only had the four runs this preparation, so he’s still very fresh.”
Another WA raid is on the agenda for the quality sprinting son of Magnus, with next year’s $2m The Quokka beckoning Griffiths enticingly.
“Yes, we’ll be back for sure,” the trainer said.
“He’s really taken to being over here so that’s a race definitely on the agenda. I’m just really proud of the horse. He deserved that.”
It was a banner day for Perth’s leading jockey William Pike, who rode four winners on the card and notched up his fourth Gold Rush.
Pike revealed that he had learned a lot about Rey Magnerio in the Winterbottom.
“I think he waited a bit in the Winterbottom, and there was a bit more that I could dip into today,” said the champion hoop.
“So I took that into today, and we got the chocolates!.”
A three-quarter brother to the G3 Naturalism Stakes winner Magnapal, Rey Magnerio is the best of two winners from four to race for the Testa Rossa mare Luchardo, herself a sister to stakes-placed Red For Lou, the dam of Magic Millions 2yo Classic winner Le Chef.
And remarkably, Rey Magnerio was bred from a mare who was a $1,000 online buy for his South Australian hobby breeder Andrew Nitschke.
That mare Luchardo was a modest country winner from 14 starts
But Nitschke was keen on the mighty Testa Rossa as a broodmare sire, and he liked Luchardo’s family.
“I bought her online for a thousand bucks,” the breeder commented after Rey Magnerio had revealed his talent on the track and attracted media attention.
“The bloke wanted three grand, I offered one and he took it. I don’t know if I thought it was a bargain at the time, but I do now.”
Nitschke first sent Lunchardo to Star Witness and bred the handy 4 x winner Vitruvius (who is still racing) before booking her to Magnus.
“The idea was to get a three-quarter sibling to Magnapal,” he said. “I thought he was a very good horse, and if you can breed one close-up, hopefully it works.”
Andrew Nitschke isn’t much of a one for juvenile racing, believing a horse's racing career is better served by giving it that extra time to grow. So he kept his cracking Magnus colt until he was a late two year old, before selling him privately via bloodstock agent John Ford, to trainers Robbie Griffiths and Matt de Kock.
Rey Magnerio made his racetrack debut just a week shy of his fourth birthday, and he bolted in over 1100m on the Pakenham Synthetic.
He ended that first six start prep with four wins, beating future G1 winner Mornington Glory at Flemington in the last of them.
The following spring he was narrowly beaten in his first two starts at G2 and G3 level before finally breaking through for an overdue first stakes victory in the Listed Always Welcome Stakes - then was hit off the court by a rampaging Nadal in The Meteorite.
At the beginning of this year the gelding really hit his straps with a G2 Rubiton Stakes win and a G1 Oakleigh Plate third. Then followed unplaced runs in the Newmarket and William Reid, but Rey was back in the winner's circle first up in October with a scintillating performance in the G2 Herald Sun Sprint at WFA.!
With his Gold Rush jackpot, Rey Magnerio has now earned prize money a smidge over $2 million from his 26 starts which have yielded 10 wins (four stakes) and 10 placings.
And there's plenty of life left in those legs yet!
Rey Magnerio is bred
Danzig 4m x 4m
Vain 4f x 5m sex balanced
The duplication of Vain through his great daughter Song Of Norway, the dam of Blue Hen Scandinavia who is the dam of Magnus, is the pattern which gave the world the once in a lifetime sprinter Black Caviar - though that was Vain 3f x 3f via her sire Bel Esprit.
Nothing is going to repeat the genetic magic that brought forth the great mare, but this pattern of duplicating Vain with the amazingly prolific Scandinavia family has proven successful on a number of occasions.
Interestingly, Magnus himself sired dual Listed winner Front Page (twice G1 placed in The Galaxy) from a Bel Esprit mare!
Rey Magnerio is one of 32 stakes winners for the much-missed Widden Stud stallion. The son of Golden Slipper winner Flying Spur died in 2023, and two of his four G1 winners Magnifioso and Great Shot came at Ascot. A third, “the winning machine” Malaguerra placed in a Winterbottom Stakes.
The Magnus progeny absolutely love it in the west. No wonder Rey Magnerio was bucking his brands off after the Winterbottom!
The breed has an incredibly genuine character, and they are super sound and super tough.
With the double up of Vain imparting such brilliant speed to Rey, what about that stamina he drew on to run down Overpass at his first try at the longer trip?
That would be his fantastic old Kiwi damline!
Rey Magnerio descends from the great broodmare Waimea, a daughter of the foundational matriarch Flora McIvor. (Family 18)
Waimea was sired by Sir Hercules, Australia's first important homebred thoroughbred sire.
Foaled in 1843 at Bungarribee Stud in NSW, Sir Hercules left Classic winning sons Cossack, Yattendon and The Barb. Many of his daughters founded families which are producing Stakes winners to this day.
Flora McIvor, a granddaughter of the imported taproot mare Manto, was shipped to NZ where she foaled among several great daughters, Waimea.
Waimea went on to produce two NZ Derby winners, Manuka in 1869 sired by The Peer and Papapa in 1873 by Ravensworth.
Waimea became the ancestress of Phar Lap's great rival Nightmarch, who was a great racehorse in his own right, and of the legendary filly Silver Scorn who is regarded as one of the best of her sex to ever race in NZ.
Waimea’s descendant Iris by The Traducer appears on Rey Magnerio’s damline.
The Traducer, though reported as savage of temperament, was a great sire of stayers to put it mildly!
Nine NZ Derby winners and 8 winners of the Canterbury Cup ( a two and a half mile WFA race) sprang from his loins.
Moving down through the generations we see Foxbridge, Ruthless, the French bred stayer Oman, the influential German horse Lucullus, Agricola and Icelandic making up the chain of broodmare sires of this family.
Testa Rossa is a brilliant source of speed, he’s also the damsire of a Melbourne Cup winner!
Rey Magnerio's fourth dam Polo Princess (Agricola) and fifth dam Poker Face(Golovine) were both at stud in Western Australia and produced winners of Perth staying races.
Rey Magnerio's seventh dam Sou'East produced the 1964 Melbourne Cup winner Polo Prince.
Given all that, no surprise really that 1400m wasn't an issue!
In 2021 Luchardo foaled a half brother to Rey Magnerio by Star Turn.
Named Starcho Libre, he is placed from two starts to date
She has a 2023 filly by Star Witness, a 2024 colt by Shamus Award and this year's arrival a colt by Zousain, to represent her in future.
We won't expect to see them racing as two year olds, but Rey Magnerio is a great example of the stellar career a horse can build when the process isn't rushed!
