Windshadow out to prove his worth on debut at Geelong

August 1, 2022 5:07 pm.

Windshadow was a $900,000 purchase at the 2020 Gold Coast Magic Millions Yearling Sale. (Photo: Magic Millions)

The second race at Geelong on Wednesday will see the long-awaited debut of $900,000 yearling purchase Windshadow.

Purchased in 2020 at the Gold Coast Magic Millions by leviathan owner Ozzie Kheir, the son of Redoute’s Choice boasts an impressive pedigree with relations to star mare Typhoon Tracy and Stradbroke Handicap winner Alligator Blood.

Windshadow, now a four-year-old gelding, will be looking to be the first of his full siblings to win at the races, with other Redoute’s Choice x Traceability progeny yet to win from a handful of starts.

Tycoon’s Choice, a $1.3 million 2019 yearling purchase, has had just one start in Hong Kong for an eight-length defeat, while the older brother was a $750,000 purchase in 2018.

That horse raced under the name Spring Loaded, and while he carried plenty of hype following a debut second in the Group 3 Canonbury Stakes at Rosehill Gardens, he was unable to go on with it.

READ: Top 10 wins of the 2021/22 season

Spring Loaded would finish last behind eventual Everest winner Yes Yes Yes in the Group 2 Todman Stakes, before finishing 20.3 lengths away in 11th in the Group 1 ATC Sires’ Produce Stakes.

Returning in the spring of 2019, Spring Loaded failed to break his maiden status at Goulburn in what would be his last race before being retired.

Kheir and his regular group owners have won some of Australia’s greatest races, but a $37,500 maiden at Geelong could be one of their more satisfying victories.

The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Windshadow is a $10 chance with online bookmakers, while Mark Zahra is booked for the ride.