Ucalledit claims Listed Winter Stakes
Former New Zealand galloper Ucalledit has completed a feature winter double in Sydney, adding Saturday’s Listed Winter Stakes (1400m) at Randwick to his win in the Listed Civic Stakes over the same course and distance two weeks ago.
The Zacinto gelding was a breakout star last spring, stringing together four wins from five starts between October and December including the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1400m) at Eagle Farm.
He was unable to repeat those results when he returned to Queensland for the early stages of the Winter Carnival in May, striking misfortune in the running and finishing outside the placings in the Listed Australian Turf Club Trophy (1200m) and Group 3 BRC Sprint (1350m).
But he turned things around in style with his last-start Winter Stakes success, and Saturday brought more of the same in the hands of in-form apprentice jockey Dylan Gibbons.
Heading a stable quinella for Newcastle trainer Kris Lees, Ucalledit settled in midfield before sprinting out of the pack and producing an irresistible finish down the Randwick home straight.
2023 Listed Winter Stakes Replay – Ucalledit
He surged down the outside and swept to the lead with 200m remaining, opening up a winning margin of a length and a quarter.
“He was very good,” Gibbons said after unsaddling his fourth winner on the Randwick card.
“The last time I rode him, I rolled forward but he never really had the chance to travel due to the tempo of the race. Obviously Danny (Beasley) did it right last time and showed me how to ride him, so I just tried to replicate that.
“I didn’t really expect him to be that explosive in the straight, so it was a great win.”
It was the 10th win of a 25-start career for Ucalledit, who has now earned $521,610 in prize-money. He won four races in New Zealand for Kevin Myers before his purchase by syndicators Australian Bloodstock.
“He’s certainly a winner,” Lees stable representative Cameron Swan said. “Once he found form in his last preparation, he put a few good races together, so we were hoping for more of the same this time in. I think this was a better win today than the other day.
“He drew a tricky gate, but travelled really well and finished it off strongly. He kept working through his gears and was the strongest on the line, so he was very good.”
Bred by Bill Lawton, Ucalledit is one of eight stakes winners by Zacinto and is out of the unraced Al Maher mare Special Bay. He was purchased as a Karaka yearling by Kevin Myers for $15,000 from the draft of Grangewilliam Stud.