Satono Aladdin colt Raf Attack burst into contention for staying three-year-old features with a determined front-running performance in Saturday’s A$500,000 Gr.3 Toyota Forklifts Gloaming Stakes (1800m) at Randwick.
A stylish maiden winner on the Kensington track in early August, the New Zealand-bred three-year-old was close up in sixth in the Gr.3 Ming Dynasty Quality (1400m) and fourth in the Listed Dulcify Stakes (1600m) in his two subsequent appearances.
On Saturday his rider Regan Bayliss threw down the gauntlet to his dozen rivals, dominating the race from the front and getting Raf Attack to produce a strong kick at the top of the home straight.
Chasers lined up across the track and tried to reel him in, led by the warm favourite Tom Kitten, but there was no catching Raf Attack. He kept kicking and held on all the way to the line, winning by a head.
Trained by Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott, Raf Attack is now likely to be pointed towards the Gr.1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Randwick on October 28.
“He's a free-rolling horse and he's very tough,” Bayliss said. “He’s a bit tricky to ride. You can't go too slow, but you also can't just run him into the ground. He was a little bit keen still today. So I reckon that run will just knock the edge off him – and it's going to, have to heading into the Spring Champion Stakes.”
The Gloaming has been won by seven subsequent Group One winners in the last 14 years – So You Think (2009), Dundeel (2012), Complacent (2013), Vanbrugh (2015), Ace High (2017), Shadow Hero (2019) and last year’s winner Sharp ‘N’ Smart, who won the Spring Champion Stakes in his next start.
Raf Attack was bred by Alan Galbraith and was offered by Rich Hill Stud in Book 1 of Karaka 2022, where Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott Racing and Chris Rutten Bloodstock bought him for $150,000. His five-start career has now produced two wins and A$332,500 in stakes.
He became the sixth southern hemisphere-bred stakes winner for Rich Hill Stud stallion Satono Aladdin, who has also been represented by dual Group One winner Pennyweka, Group Two winner Lantern Way, and fellow black-type winners Tokyo Tycoon, Sacred Satono and Grand Impact.
Raf Attack’s unplaced dam Sima is a half-sister to the stakes winners Brave Mead and Solemn. After producing Raf Attack in 2020, she has foaled a colt by Vadamos and another colt by Satono Aladdin. She returned to Satono Aladdin again last spring.