three states: Lightning, Australia Stakes, TJ Smith, BTC Cup and Doomben 10,000. By now the die and truly cast. Like fellow sprinting icon, Takeover Target, Apache Cat had defied relatively humble origins to grab a slice of racing lore … winning over Joe Public with his fighting spirit.
Returning at the end of September with a sixth in the Manikato-G1 and second in the Schillaci-G2, the Schweppes on (dye?) was well Cox Plate day would be only the fourth of 19 career victories in the spring! LIKE FELLOW SPRINTING ICON, A m a z i n g maybe it TAKEOVER TARGET, APACHE CAT HAD … just means DEFIED RELATIVELY HUMBLE ORIGINS this sprightly 7YO is simply TO GRAB A SLICE OF RACING LORE … getting better with age? in HK Sprint-G1 at Sha Tin) – but was up to his old tricks this autumn with a repeat Australia Stakes-G1 victory, thirds in the TJ Smith-G1 and BTC Cup-G1,
WINNING OVER JOE PUBLIC WITH HIS FIGHTING SPIRIT.
The fabulous run would end last spring – although he did campaign in Melbourne, Perth and Hong Kong (when third
plus an eighth Group One in the Doomben 10,000.
For partowner/breeder, Paul Radford, the Schweppes thriller was more emotion charged than usual given that Apache Cat’s mum, Tennessee Blaze, died when foaling a Street Sense filly in September. “She was a 21 year old mare, so it wasn’t a massive shock,” Paul reveals, “but she was the first horse we bought and started all of this”. Fortunately they were able to save the Street Sense filly – the Whiskey Road mare’s 12th foal (a trouper to the end, Tennessee Blaze only missed twice in 14 seasons at stud). Paul is far from ‘bereft’ however, retaining three Tennessee daughters: Tiger Belle (a Magnus foal at foot and booked to Hard Spun this spring), Miss Evangeline (Consolidator foal and visiting Lonhro), plus a Dubawi filly that Paul initially sold for $120,000 at this year’s Inglis Melbourne Premier before buying her back. Not surprisingly, the Dubawi filly is with Greg Eurell and poised to race around Christmas. >> www.tracktotrack.com
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