Blue-blooded colt Hawaii Five Oh has laid the foundation for a lucrative winter campaign in Brisbane with a breathtaking performance in the Hawkesbury Guineas and in doing so reignited one of racing’s great associations.
Trainer Gai Waterhouse, owner John Singleton and jockey Nash Rawiller combined to capture Saturday’s 1400m feature race with the three-year-old, just over a decade after they shared in the journey of grand mare and prolific Group 1 winner More Joyous.
A brother to the ill-fated but brilliant Libertini, Hawaii Five Oh has shown promise from the outset but it wasn’t until Saturday that he put it all together on the racetrack.
Enjoying a trailing position behind the speed, Hawaii Five Oh ($4.40) ranged up ominously in the straight then unleashed a dazzling burst of acceleration to bound clear and score by 3-1/4 lengths over Atmosphere ($9.50) with Razeta ($4.20 betr fav) third.
Rawiller credited Waterhouse with turning the colt around at just his second start for the stable and said Hawaii Five Oh had long threatened to produce that sort of performance.
“Full credit to Gai, as much as Adrian Bott is running the show there at home, she has taken this horse under her wing,” Rawiller said.
“In six weeks she has just turned him into the horse we knew he was.
“That was pretty awesome today. I know ‘Singo’ (John Singleton) would have got a big thrill out of it and so did I.
“He’s always promised to do it. He’s shown us it is definitely there now so there are no excuses going forward.”
Co-trainer Bott was on course at Hawkesbury and was equally dazzled by Hawaii Five Oh’s win, his second in six starts and first for Tulloch Lodge.
“I was really impressed with the manner in which he put them away and the acceleration he showed,” Bott said.
“We’ll aim up and we can pencil in Queensland. I think the tracks up there will suit him and the tempo of the races also.
“We wanted to get today over with and see how he stacked up against this grade, take one step at a time, but I think he’ll take a lot of confidence off the back of that.”
Hawaii Five Oh immediately tightened from $26 into $15 for the Group 1 Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) following his Hawkesbury Guineas win.
