The score was one-nil to Peter Snowden over Chris Waller at Rosehill on Saturday but the premier trainer has all but conceded his title.
As the number one trainer for Sheikh Mohammed’s Darley Australia, Snowden has had a spectacular Group One season, particularly with two-year-olds, and admits that has been the team’s focus this season.
Waller is now on the verge of breaking the domination of Crown Lodge and Gai Waterhouse in the Sydney training ranks, leaving Rosehill with a 16-1/2 win buffer over Snowden with 12 metropolitan meetings left for the season.
Snowden has won seven Group One races this year including all five juvenile features.
“We made a conscious decision early to focus on the carnivals and try to get our young horses up to a higher level,” Snowden said.
“The premiership would be great to win but I don’t have the numbers of the lesser horses to win the midweek races.
“I’ve got nothing to attack it with over the next few weeks.”
Snowden’s winner for the day was Classics in the Saunders Insurance Brokers (1400m).
The filly was steered to a decisive 2-1/4-length win over La Bella Luisa with We Betcha next, one of a frustrating string of minor placings for Waller on the day.
Waller has refused to be drawn into discussing the premiership prematurely.
“Next month we’ll talk about it,” he said.
The Darley team has a strong chance to claim the season’s final Group One race, next Saturday’s Tattersall’s Tiara in Brisbane.
Doomben 10,000 winner Beaded is the nominal favourite and will be partnered by Corey Brown in the absence of the suspended Kerrin McEvoy.
A win would place Snowden second to Peter Moody on the Group One winners’ list.
While Rosehill was a wipeout for Waller, it was a watershed for visiting Melbourne apprentice Ibrahim Gundogdu.
The 23-year-old is on loan to Gerald Ryan at Rosehill and impressed his new boss when he steered two-year-old Extraceed to victory.
“I’ve only been here two days so don’t know much about Sydney,” Gundogdu said.
“I don’t know how long I am going to stay but this helps.”
Ryan stayed at home to look after his Rosehill team and cheered on Adnocon in the Eye Liner Stakes at Ipswich as the gelding defended his stakes win.
“I set him for this race in January and it’s all worked out,” he said.
Another big winner on the day was Christian Reith who rode a double to cement his position in the top 10 Sydney riders.
But his second victory was a close thing with Romanus denying the Snowden-trained Bereft by a nose in the Eden Community Staffing Handicap (1400m).
AAP TURF
