Traffic delays slowed Exosphere’s float trip to Randwick but nothing could stop the colt in Saturday’s Roman Consul Stakes.
The three-year-old, a late arrival on course due to a truck fire on a major Sydney motorway, gave trainer John O’Shea another scare when he turned for home spotting leader Japonisme a big head start.
Exosphere
But jockey James McDonald knew what was underneath him and when he asked for an effort, Exosphere rushed down the outside to score by 3-1/4 lengths over Zoutenant in race record time.
“At the half mile I even thought, hang on a minute, he’s got a bit of work to do,” O’Shea said.
“‘Mac’ must have been pretty confident because he just never moved on him.
“It’s just a pleasure to train a horse like that. We were very excited to bring him to the races today because we knew he’d improved since the Golden Rose and he’s justified our belief in him.”
Exosphere’s victory gave Godolphin wins in three of the first four races and prompted McDonald to declare the colt a special talent.
“Simply breathtaking,” McDonald said.
“He’s one out of the box and that’s what we all wake up for, to sit on these kinds of horses. He’s flying.”
The past two winners of the Roman Consul, Brazen Beau and Zoustar, went on to win the Coolmore Stud Stakes at Flemington during the Melbourne Cup carnival.
That race is also on Exosphere’s radar, along with a weight-for-age test against older horses in the Darley Classic.
“I’m really keen to run him down the straight and I’m keen to run him at weight-for-age,” O’Shea said.
“He’s so big he’s got a great weight advantage so we’ll try to utilise it going forward.”
Blake Shinn was taken by the performance of Zoutenant who turned in his best run for some time while Bowman said Japonisme fought on well after taking up an uncustomary leadership role and over-racing in the middle stages.
