Turn Me Loose became a star in his birth country when taking the G2 Hawkes Bay Guineas and G1 NZ 2000 Guineas in the spring of 2014. He has since well and truly transferred that star power across the Tasman, and he notched his second Australian Group 1 in Saturday's Futurity S. at Caulfield. Second on his local debut in Flemington's Listed Paris Lane S. Oct. 4, Turn Me Loose took the Listed Darley Seymour Cup two weeks later and backed up to add the G2 Crystal Mile a further six days later. Showing no signs of slowing down, Turn Me Loose concluded a busy campaign with a win in the G1 Emirates S. two weeks after that. A non-disgraced fourth as the favourite when resuming in the G1 C.F. Orr S. over this course and distance two weeks ago, the bay was once again the most heavily supported by punters Saturday. Turn Me Loose sat in the three path about three lengths off the lead as Hucklebuck pulled jockey Dom Tourneur through the opening fractions. That rival pulled two lengths clear at the 1000-metre mark, at which point jockey Opie Bosson directed Turn Me Loose to follow, keeping him in a stalking position behind Hucklebuck around the turn. Turn Me Loose hit the front under a vigorous ride at the 150-metre mark and had enough left in the tank to hold off late bids from Stratum Star and the C.F. Orr winner Suavito. Co-owner Scott Brown told Racing.com that Turn Me Loose's key objective for the year would be the G1 Cox Plate in the spring.
“I think [trainer Murray Baker's] aim has always been the Cox Plate, so if we can get there that'd be awesome,” said Brown. “But I think this is a step in the right direction towards that. That's a race we'd all love to win, being Australian owners.”
In the meantime, Brown said objectives for the talented entire include the G1 Doncaster Mile and G1 Queen Elizabeth S. at The Championships Apr. 2 and 9, respectively.
Turn Me Loose's dam, Indomitable, has fillies in the pipeline by a pair of Coolmore shuttlers to New Zealand: a yearling by Power (GB) and a foal by Cape Blanco (Ire).
Saturday, Caulfield, Australia
FUTURITY S.-G1, A$502,000, MRC, 2-27, 3yo/up, Open WFA, 1400mT, 1:22.21, Good.
1–TURN ME LOOSE (NZ), 59.0, h, 4, by Iffraaj (GB)
1st Dam: Indomitable (NZ), by Danehill (USA)
2nd Dam: Kwan (IRE), by Sadler's Wells (USA)
3rd Dam: Commanche Belle (GB), by Shirley Heights (GB)
(NZ$52,500 2YO 2013 NZB Ready to Run Sale) O-S Brown, L De Souza, T Hartley, J Lark, D Painter, J Robinson & P Vawdrey; B-G W & Mrs M W Simon, Waikato, NZ; T-M P Baker; J-O P Bosson; A$302,000. Lifetime Record: G1SW-NZ, 13-7-3-1, A$1,452,884. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus*. Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.[bullet ad=”irt-shell”]2–Stratum Star, 59.0, h , 4, Stratum–Purely Spectacular (NZ), by Pins. (A$165,000 Ylg 2013 MM Gold Coast Yearling Sale) O-D Davidson, M Krauser, A Davidson, M Davidson, Estate of C Peoples, I Berger, H Kalus, Dr N Siow, M Wolper, A Yeo, S Cheng, Widden Stud Pty Ltd, Balmerino Racing Partnership; B-Widden Stud Australia Pty Ltd NSW; T-D K Weir; J-M Zahra; A$90,000.
3–Suavito (NZ), 57.0, m, 5, Thorn Park–Queen Cha Cha (NZ), by High Chaparral (IRE). O-I J Lewis, Mrs K M Lewis, Mr P Latoszynski, Mrs D Anderson, M Bowden, H J Loh, D Godfrey, A J McIntyre, Mrs N D McIntyre, P M Humphreys, Mrs K L Humphreys, R D Cotter, M Laughlin; B-IDL Racing Ltd, Waikato, NZ; T-N A Blackiston; J-L Currie; A$45,000.
Margins: 0.8 len, 1.2 len, 1.7 len. Odds: 2.10, 16.00, 6.00.
Also Ran: Rebel Dane, The United States (IRE), Trust in a Gust, Politeness, Hucklebuck, Entirely Platinum (NZ), Boban, Scissor Kick.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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