Northern Eyes are smiling alright, the NSW Tycoons’ latest acquisition didn’t just break his Maiden he smashed the opposition in saluting at Hawkesbury on Thursday, with a performance that signaled there is much more to come.
On a cold and blustering day that made it feel more like Thredbo than Hawkesbury a “rugged up” group of Tycoons along with trainer Kim Waugh felt the temperature rise when jockey Jay Ford said “Go” with Northern Eyes saluting by over 3 lengths eased down on the line.
ASTUTE PURCHASE
A quick history, Northern Eyes was originally purchased as a yearling by the Coolmore group for a whopping $1.25 million.
Being a son of champion sire Zoustar out of the well-performed Sexy Eyes he was targeted at the top two-year-old races to give him every chance to make a commercial sire.
He didn’t originally live up to Coolmore’s expectations so the TRL Bloodstock team joined forces with Kim Waugh Racing to purchase him on the Inglis Digital Late March Online Sale for $155,000.
It now looks like another astute purchase by the Bloodstock team along with Kim and Mark Waugh.
“We are more than happy to have him in our stable, he is a lovely horse who still has a lot of maturing to do and looks to have a bright future,” Trainer Kim Waugh said.
Northern Eyes yearling headshot
Jockey Jay Ford
THE PLAN WORKED OUT PERFECTLY
With a touch of immaturity, Kim didn’t want Northern Eyes to lead because he would tend to star gaze and not concentrate.
He pinned the barriers and found himself in front but jockey Jay Ford was able to steady him and he took a sit on the outside of the well-supported Du Cap.
“Good to see him do that, he was the best credentialled horse in the race but he appears much more comfortable at the 1300m.
“He jumped sharp, but what I loved was the way he allowed Kerrin’s horse to come through on the inside and he just switched off and came back underneath, so he just conserved all of this energy and that allowed him to control the race and finish off.
“Once I got past the leader he lengthened, he did get a bit sideways but I kept him going all the way through,” Ford said.
“He had the form on the board but it was good to see him come out and dominate and hopefully that sets the trend for the rest of the campaign,” Ford said.
WHO NEEDS BLINKERS?
Trainer Kim Waugh joked after the race she still has the blinkers up her sleeve.
In a little bit of confusion and miscommunication, Northern Eyes left the tie-up stalls with blinkers on, but because they weren’t declared in the race book stewards made Gary the strapper take them off.
In the end it didn’t matter, Northern Eyes won eased down on the line.
“So happy with the win, Jay rode him perfectly.
“The plan was to have someone to follow because he can lose concentration and so when that other horse kicked up to lead he had someone to follow and he can lose concentration if left alone by himself.
“It wasn’t a big deal but we still have the blinkers up our sleeve literally if we need them” Kim joked holding a set of Northern Eyes blinkers after the win.
Northern Eyes all geared up for the race
Northern Eyes dominating over the line at Hawkesbury
THE KILL WILL DO HIM WONDERS
Horses are just like other athletes, winning breeds confidence and confidence breeds more wins.
“I reckon the kill (win) will do wonders for him, because he has quite a good pick-up.
“He had the form on the board but it was good to see him come out and dominate and hopefully that sets the trend for the rest of the campaign,” Ford said.
The official margin in the end was 3.2 lengths to Du Cap, with Glory Start third.
Northern Eyes clocked a slick 33.84 for his final 600m on a Soft 5 track.
WHAT NEXT FOR NORTHERN EYES
Kim is not about to rush Northern Eyes and will adopt the old adage of keeping your horse in the worst company while you keep the best.
“He has initially pulled up well and we will just take our time with him, that was a good win.
“He will stay around the 1300 – 1400m mark for now at the provincial level and build up to a Highway on Saturday in town.
“He’s a nice horse and a little soft mentally so he still has a lot of improvement in him.” Kim concluded.
Northern Eyes did have a good blow after the win, which is a good sign that he is a long way from being fully wound up.
Looks like the NSW Tycoons have another nice horse on their hands.
Northern Eyes with strapper in the pre-parade ring