He has twice ridden the winner of the Golden Rose and jockey Tommy Berry can make a case for Raging Force to be given a shot at earning his way into the Group 1 showpiece.
The two-year-old made it a hat-trick of wins this preparation when he comfortably accounted for his rivals in the Thank You ATC Members Handicap (1100m) at Rosehill on Saturday, demonstrating another string to his bow by taking a sit and coming from off the speed.
Berry rated it an impressive performance and said with his fitness advantage, Raging Force was capable of mixing it in better grade.
“Every time in the winter you find one or two nice colts and fillies that have just taken a little time to mature and he was one of them,” said Berry, who has won the Golden Rose on Epaulette (2012) and Ole Kirk (2020).
“When he jumped so well, I really wanted to take the lead on him today and take bad luck out of the equation, but when they went too quick for him, he came back to me and relaxed well. He handled the situation perfectly.
“He is up and running and heading towards the Rosebud, Run To The Rose and Golden Rose where the horses that have already proven themselves at the top level are still just getting fit.
“He is already fit and he might just be able to catch them napping, hopefully.”
Raging Force started among the fancies in the Breeders’ Plate (1000m) in October but was injured during the race and missed the Sydney autumn carnival.
He has made every post a winner this time around and trainer Peter Snowden is planning to give him a freshen up before raising the bar.
“He’s got a lovely attitude, a lovely, big action and he’s probably better on top of the ground as well,” Snowden’s stable representative, Aaron Lau, said.
“He is very progressive and it’s exciting going forward.
“We just wanted to see him come here today and do it. It’s all well and good when you’re in the midweeks but coming here on a Saturday with a performance like that, you can map ahead.”
Raging Force ($1.70 fav) outclassed his rivals to score by 2-1/4 lengths from Horseshoe Hill ($7) with Lull ($21) another 2-3/4 lengths away.
By Cosmic Force, Raging Force was a $150,000 Inglis Classic Sale purchase for syndicators Darby Racing.
