The Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott stable have had good success with the progeny of Hellbent winning the $2 million Inglis Millennium last season with one of his sons in Fully Lit(Sunlit by Snitzel) and they took out the Listed VRC Maribyrnong Trial Stakes (1,000m) at Flemington with his talented colt Tremonti (Quachita by All Too Hard).

Tuned up for his debut with a good second at the official Sydney two-year-old trials at Randwick last month, Tremonti was dispatched to Melbourne to split up the massive team of juveniles from the stable, which produced the trifecta in the G3 ATC Breeders’ Plate run 10 minutes earlier to race at Flemington.

Tremonti proved a good choice to head south, handling the straight track to perfection for Jye McNeil. Headed just after passing the furlong, Tremonti found great reserves of courage under pressure and came again to pull away and win by half a length in a tenacious display.

McNeil said of the colt in a post-race interview returning to scale while still aboard Tremonti, “I just love how determined and tough he is. He’s got a great attitude – you can see him just cruising along as he walks back now.”

“That’s made my day, because I loved the way when he was beaten he just came again and showed such tenacity, I love that in a horse,” said Gai Waterhouse.

“He’ll probably go to the paddock, but he may wait for the Maribyrnong Plate, I’ll speak with Adrian (Bott) and see what he wants to do.”

Tremonti was a $180,000 Magic Millions purchase for Darby Racing from the Redbank North draft and is the first foal of well bred All Too Hard mare Quachita, a half-sister to G1-placed Tulsi from the family of Golden Slipper winner Kiamichi.

Tremonti is the sixth stakes-winner for Yarraman Park’s Hellbent, who has had a flying start to the new season with 44 individual winners this season securing third position on the Australian General Sires’ table by winners ahead of Snitzel, Deep Field and Toronado (42) and Written Tycoon (36) who rounds out the top ten sires by winners to date.