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A brilliant return to racing in Saturday’s Listed El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy (1200m) at Hastings sent a clear message that Poetic Champion will be a force to be reckoned with in three-year-old ranks this season.
The Super Seth gelding showed bright promise as a juvenile, winning by six lengths on debut last October before finishing third in the Listed Counties Challenge Stakes (1100m), second in the Gr.2 Wakefield Challenge Stakes (1100m), sixth in the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m), second in the Gr.3 Matamata Slipper (1200m) and sixth in the Gr.1 Sistema Stakes (1200m).
Trial cancellations disrupted Poetic Champion 's spring build-up, eventually winning a 950m trial on the Cambridge synthetic track on August 30 – just eight days before Saturday's black-type feature.
But despite his less-than-ideal preparation and despite coming up against a quality field of three-year-olds at Hastings, Poetic Champion kicked off his three-year-old season with the best performance of his career so far.
The chestnut jumped well from the inside gate for jockey Matt Cartwright and pulled ahead of Grove Street to take up a front-running position after the first 100m. That was where he stayed, dominating the race from the front and never giving the others a look in.
Cartwright pushed the button in the straight and Poetic Champion's response was spectacular, powering clear to win by two and a quarter lengths from the strong-finishing Savaglee.
"That was lovely," Cartwright said. "He jumped cleanly. There was a bit of pressure early, but I didn't want to give the lead up. He half stargazed out in front, but then he was quite explosive after straightening up.
"I thought he might be a bit underdone coming into this race, but Tony Pike is a legend at getting horses right on the day and he's done that today."
Bred and raced by Jonathan Munz's GSA Bloodstock, Poetic Champion has now had seven starts for two wins, three placings and $152,150 in stakes.
The TAB now rates him a $6 chance for the Gr.2 Hawke's Bay Guineas (1400m) at Hastings on September 28, and he is a $12 chance for the Gr.1 New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m) at Riccarton on November 9.
"We just had a couple of little niggly issues with this horse towards the end of his two-year-old season," said Pike, who has previously won the El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy with Bostonian in 2017 and Cyber Attack in 2018. "We've put those behind us now and he's come back in great order.
"I was a little worried that we had a short run-up into this resuming run, only trialling at Cambridge eight days ago. But Matt rode him beautifully in front and got a soft lead. He's just a really genuine racehorse and I'm rapt to see him back in winning form.
"He's bred and owned by Jonathan Munz, who also owned Super Seth, so it's great to get him a stakes win with one of Super Seth's progeny.
"He's a really sharp horse, so I'm not too sure how much of a trip he'll be able to run. We'll bring him back for the Hawke's Bay Guineas next, and his performance there will probably help us decide whether or not we carry on down to Riccarton. He might be more of a sprinter, and the heart probably says 1600m might not be his distance, but they can sometimes get away with it against their own age group at three.
"He's eligible for the NZB Kiwi (1500m) as well, so that's another target that we can think about."
Poetic Champion became the third individual stakes winner for exciting young Waikato Stud stallion Super Seth, who is also the sire of Sydney Group Three winner Linebacker as well as last season's Listed winner Super Photon, who finished fourth in Saturday's El Roca-Sir Colin Meads Trophy.
