Wednesday 30th May was the deadline for the first round of acceptances for the Group 1 2yr old JJ Atkins on the 9th June, originally nominating all three of our “Home” boys this round of acceptances saw talented gallopers Home Ground and Home Made progress into the next round with 19 acceptances received. As the final acceptances get closer the fact that both have made the first cut has injected a buzz of excitement around the stables, it is a big task to get one horse to a Group 1 race but to have two horses in the one race is an even bigger testament to the dedication and passion shown by Sarge in training the horses and placing in the right races.
Both horses have shown good ability since their debuts back in their trials and race debuts. Read more about the Home horses below:
Home Made (High Chaparral x Gliding) first made his debut on the 24th Nov 2017 in a trial at Rosehill, finishing 5th out of 8 runners. Sent for another two trials before making finally making his race debut on 5th April at Hawkesbury, ridden by Brenton Avdulla and finishing toward the rear of the field over the 1300m. Home Made was then taken to Kembla Grange on 21st April and stepped up to 1400m with paired with jockey Travis Wolfgram. At only his second start Home Made broke his maiden status and showed his owners that he should be considered for the Group racing over the winter carnival. Sent back to Kembla Grange on the 17th May and ridden by the returning Kiwi James McDonald, finished 4th just under 4 lengths behind the leader but still showing that he was on song for the winter carnival. In between his last run, Home Made has had a gallop with Home Ground on the course proper at Randwick and worked well over the 1200m in preparation for the Group 1 Assignment next weekend. He will travel up to Queensland and in the JJ Atkins will be partnered by another top Kiwi Jockey in Michael Walker, who is riding in hot form recently.
Home Ground (High Chaparral x First Look) made his first public appearance in a trial at Randwick on the 11th December last year running 4th out of 5 runners. Also given another two trials before making his race debut at Kembla on the 21st April, ridden by Jeff Penza the young gelding finished 4th of the 5 runners over the 1300m. His next opportunity to break his maiden status came on the 4th of May when he was sent north to Muswellbrook and stepped up to 1450m and introduced to Travis Wolfgram. Having read the race perfectly, Travis was able to put the strong and bullish gelding in the right place and then unleash a devastating turn of foot to “get the monkey” off his back also at only his second race start. Next start for the young winner came on 22nd May when taken to Wyong and keeping in with winning form having Travis aboard and stepped up to the mile (1600m), the gelding really stamped himself as a horse to follow. This particular win has made his owners realise just how talented this young horse is, Travis losing his whip close to home and having to ride hands and heels, the bay gelding continued to grind away at the leaders and go back to back, booking his place in the nominations for the JJ Atkins. Home Ground will also join Home Made in Queensland and will retain the other half of the winning duo in Travis Wolfgram making the trip up to ride.
Both horses are owned by the same connections so having one runner in a Group 1 race is exciting enough but having two opens up the thoughts of potentially running the quinella in the race. For some of the connections involved in both horses, one could be forgiven in thinking that the JJ Atkins could potentially be a remake of the 2015 ATC Oaks when the owners lined up both Thunder Lady (Mastercraftsman x Thunderchine) and Gust Of Wind (Darci Brahma x Starrystarrynight) taking on the now queen of the turf in Winx. There was support for Thunder Lady being single price odds of $8.50 while Gust Of Wind was not as popular at the attractive odds of $17. What a thrilling race that unfolded with the outsider chance Gust Of Wind beating the Queen of the Turf by 2.5 lengths and going down in history as the last horse to beat the mighty mare, also giving Sarge the title of the last trainer of a horse to beat Winx- an accolade to be proud of.
With both horses running the race it could absolutely be a case of history repeating and if you are someone who looks for the omens in racing to assist you in placing your bet then with one of the runners comes something worth backing. Home Ground’s jockey Travis Wolfgram, has ridden before on Group 1 race days but only ever in Group 2 and 3 level races, this will be his first ride in a Group 1 race. Travis is originally from Doomben and therefore will be returning to the track he once called home. He will be riding in a race named in honour of the man that gave his own father his start as a jockey in racing JJ Atkins, therefore has emotional family ties to the race and lastly he will be riding a horse called Home Ground- what a fairytale it will be if Home Ground and Travis can cross the line first past the post.
Either way the entire John Sargent Racing team are excited for the 9th of June race day and it is sure to be a day that will have the entire team glued to our TV screens or watching on our phones to see how the “Home Boys” go and hopefully can quinella the race and also stamping themselves as stars of the future.
