Peter Snowden has made a clean sweep of the three-year-old features at Rosehill with Raging Force extending his winning sequence in the San Domenico Stakes to stamp himself as a genuine stakes class horse.
His victory in Saturday’s sprint came two races after barn mate Grand Prairie was victorious in the Up And Coming Stakes (1300m) to deliver Snowden a Group 3 double.
Raging Force had strung together a hat-trick of victories during the winter to earn a return to black type grade and Snowden was thrilled with the manner in which he handled the test, downing Golden Slipper runner-up Wodeton by 1-1/2 lengths.
“That was a good test for him today. There was a Slipper placegetter, a Blue Diamond winner (Devil Night, fifth) and a few other horses there that have shown a fair bit of ability.
“He beat the A-graders there, they weren’t benchmark horses and he has won well.
“The Run To The Rose is the natural progression we will take with him in a couple of weeks’ time.
“That will tell us whether he can go seven furlongs or whether we keep him to 12 (00 metres).”
Winning jockey Tommy Berry said he was mindful of getting Raging Force to settle with a view to eventually extending him to the 1400m of the Golden Rose.
He said the gelding did that beautifully and expected him to continue to make an impact during the carnival.
“Full credit to him that he didn’t want to over-race and do things wrong,” Berry said.
“He was happy to be there and that’s a new string to his bow.
“He got a little bit lost in the straight and wanted to wander around a bit and I had to stop and grab hold of him but then he got going again.
“He’s going to be a better horse in the autumn but geez, we’re going to have some fun in the spring.”
The winner’s greenness over the final stages caused James McDonald on Wodeton to take hold but he was rapt with the colt’s return.
“If he didn’t have a check he would have probably gone close,” McDonald said.
Beiwacht fought on well for third after enduring a wide run, regular rider Adam Hyeronimus saying he had come back a more mature racehorse.
“He’s got a good race in him this preparation,” Hyeronimus said.
