Champion jockey Hugh Bowman pushed out of a pocket to land Lusaha a most impressive winner of the Listed Sir Ernest Lee-Steere Classic (1400m) at Ascot on Saturday.
Lusaha is the 166th stakes winner by More Than Ready but Bowman left it late to reel in front-runner Caipirinha. “I was worried we wouldn’t get out,” Bowman admitted after riding his first winner in Perth. “Damian Lane’s horse (The Celt) held his line and I had to wait until it tired.”
Mt Hallowell Stud’s Craig Thompson bred Lusaha from Rose of Hallowell (Commands) who is a sister to Court Command (G2 Stan Fox Stakes and G3 Golden Rose). He’s the latest stakes winner by Vinery’s champion sire crossing with a Danehill-line mare.
Lusaha was originally trained by David Harrison and finished third to top filly Whispering Brook in the LR Supremacy Stakes in March. Resuming this season with Dan Morton, he won at Northam and Ascot in October before finishing third in the LR Fairetha Stakes (1400m) and fifth in the G2 WA Guineas (1600m) last month.
Harrison and Morton won the Fairetha with his stablemate Saul’s Special (Charge Forward).
“Lusaha deserved to win and he’s a proper racehorse,” Morton said. “I knew there was a good race in him this prep. He was a work in progress when I got him – he’s not straightforward – but he was good enough to overcome problems and win today.”
More Than Ready kicks off the 2017 yearling sales series with 31 lots catalogued for the Gold Coast Magic Millions in January and the standout is the younger brother to Group 1 racehorse and sire Sebring (Lot 339).
Vinery Stud has another highlight (as agent) when it offers the More Than Ready colt from Red Queen (Lot 367). He’s a younger half-brother to Mt Hallowell’s G2 Karrakatta Plate winner Luke’s Luck.
