Sydney, February 13 – Fastnet Rock colt Hinchinbrook, a youngster whose life started with tragedy, took the first step towards a Golden Slipper start when making a winning debut at Randwick on Saturday in the Listed AJC Canonbury Stakes.
A three-quarter brother to Group One winner and now successful young sire Snitzel, Hinchinbrook (pictured courtesy Steve Hart) is the last foal from stakes-winning mare Snippets’ Lass who died within hours of his birth in September 2007.
The Mitchell family of Yarraman Park moved swiftly to save the colt and a foster mother was found to raise him and after that rocky start, all has gone smoothly for the budding star.
Snippets’ Lass has been a great favourite in the sale ring, her yearlings selling for up to $1.4 million (for Redoute’s Choice filly Viennese) and the original plan was to sell this colt as well, so he was entered in the 2009 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.
As the colt developed, it became plain to all that he might well be the best horse produced by Snippets’ Lass and that being the case his breeder Francois Naude elected to keep him.
Gerald Ryan was selected to train Hinchinbrook given his success with his older brother Snitzel, the decision now looking like a prudent one following the colt’s promising debut win.
Sent out favourite following a good barrier trial win on February 2, Hinchinbrook settled midfield and then finished off strongly in the slow conditions to beat former Melbourne colt Corvidae.
He took the 1100 metre event by the best part of a length with Breeders Plate winner Run for Wilson in third place.
“He’s a big heavy horse and he probably didn’t handle the ground as most heavy horses don’t,” Ryan said.
“He’ll improve heaps from that and it takes a good horse to win at this level on debut."
Ryan was full of praise for Hinchinbrook who will progress along a path aimed at the Golden Slipper, but warned punters he’s a markedly different horse to his three-quarter brother Snitzel.
“He’s not as explosive or precocious as Snitzel,” Ryan said. “He is going to be a better three-year-old.”
“My thoughts are to go to the Skyline in four weeks as I don’t want to bottom him out.
“Then if he needs another run we go to the Pago Pago.”
Hinchinbrook is the third stakes-winner for ill-fated Snippets’ Lass and is bred on the exact same cross as top class Fastnet Rock three year-old Wanted, who is also from a daughter of Snippets.
Yarraman Park have four yearlings heading to Melbourne for the 2010 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale followed by a further 19 for the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale including four by Hinchinbrook’s sire Fastnet Rock.
