Tulloch partnership enjoying best run with promise of more to come
The depth is back at Tulloch Lodge this season, which harks back to the glory days as co-trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott enjoy their best season together.
While the Sydney premiership that the legendary Randwick operation dominated for so long is out of reach these days, Waterhouse and Bott could take second place behind Chris Waller away from the Godolphin’s James Cummings with a good finish to the season. The gap is four wins with five meetings left.
It’s not only the 64 winners they have had in Sydney but strength around the country. Waterhouse and Bott have had four group 1 victories – three from Alligator Blood and a first Australian Derby with Major Beel – to make this season the best of the seven-year-old partnership. But what excites Bott most heading into spring is the depth of the stable reflected in a near record 33 two-year-old wins in 2022-23.
“It has been a good season but, more importantly, we have a good group of horses coming through as well,” Bott said. “We have a very good group of two-year-olds and there is a couple of really good three-year-olds there as well.
“It sets up for another good year next season because we can build on what we have done this season.”
Waterhouse and Bott had their 1000th winner together this season and should bring up their 150th win for the term this weekend. The winning strike rate, which Tulloch Lodge has been famed for, continues to be the best in Sydney at about 18 per cent.
Spring preparations are swinging into action. Hobart Cup winner Military Mission, Magic Millions runner-up Platinum Jubilee and North Star Lass return among a group of horses at the Randwick barrier trials on Friday, before a strong winter team heads to races at Randwick on Saturday.
Stonecoat, Hi Dubai, Omni Man and two-year-old The Little Pumper are all in the betting and appear well-placed for more late-season success. Bott thinks stepping out to 1600m after his first-up win over 1400m will suit three-year-old Stonecoat, which carries form around Derby winners Manzoice and Major Beel.
“The only time he has missed a place, he was only a length away from two Derby winners at Canterbury last year,” Bott said. “We have taken our time with him and he is a stayer that is maturing and getting better.”
The son of Pierro has four wins and three placings from his eight starts and is a listed winner in the Morphettville Guineas from March this year. Like Stonecoat, The Little Pumper ran into a very strong race early in his career, where he started favourite only to be taken on in front before fading to finish 3lengths from two-time group 1 winner Militarize at Canterbury.
“He had a break and came back a winner at Canterbury. He has his share of weight on Saturday, but he is a nice two-year-old,” Bott said.
Bott believes Hi Dubai and Omni Man could also both measure up to Saturday grade. He has opted to take on Passeggiata again instead of a trip to Grafton with Omni Man, which is a half-brother to Golden Slipper winner She Will Reign and Silver Slipper winner Time to Reign.
Hickman looks to continue private family tradition
Trainer Greg Hickman remembers flying filly Private Secretary with some fondness and that is why he has continued to buy into her family. Private Legacy is the final string in the bloodline from Hickman’s $1million earner, which won eight races for the Warwick Farm trainer including the Magic Millions Fillies and Mares in 2017.
“He is the last one, unfortunately, because she is gone and that’s why he got the name, Private Legacy,” Hickman said.
“We sold the mare after she finished racing and I bought the first foal, which didn’t do much, but this bloke has something about him. There are a few of the owners that were in her in him, and it would be good for her to get a good one because she was a special horse. She had a tendon problem, so we had to wait with her, but she gave us a couple of really good days.
“He is a bit different to her because he is racing as a two-year-old. She was nearly four before we got her to the track.
“He is going to get over a bit of ground and is still learning what it is all about, whereas she was a racehorse from the first time she went to the races and very sharp.
“I still remember her winning at Nowra on debut, but it tells you something about him that he is already in town.”
Hickman believes the step out to 1400m for Private Legacy at his third start will help him find his best after being tardy away at both his starts.
He made up good ground to run second behind Determined Mink On debut at Newcastle, and then took inside runs coming from second-last on the turn at Warwick Farm when fourth to Taormina.
Star apprentice Zac Lloyd will take 1 kilograms off Private Legacy’s 54kg handicap, which makes for an attractive weight.
“I think he is going to be a miler, so this is a good test for him,” Hickman said. “It is a big advantage to get Zac to ride him, and I would really like to help him win the apprentice premiership.
“ Private Legacy is slowly putting it together, and it would be nice to get a win with him as a two-year-old because he will get better like his mum.”
