Famous Kiwi Sprint Victory

Kiwi sprinter Famous Seamus (NZ) (Elusive City) upstaged his more fancied rivals to win the Group 1 A$405,500 Bundaberg Distilling Company BTC Cup (1200m) at Doomben yesterday.

Famous Seamus (NZ) triumphant in the Group 1 Bundaberg Distilling Company BTC Cup.

Starting the race as the outsider of the field with the TAB, the son of Elusive City trumped Group 1 winners Buffering (Mossman), Spirit of Boom (Sequalo), Temple of Boom (Temple Spirit) and Tiger Tees (NZ) (Dubawi) to take his first Group 1 victory.

Trained by Noel Mayfield-Smith at Hawkesbury, the NZ$70,000 Karaka Select Sale graduate had been competing against the best this campaign with his four previous run being at Group 1 or Group 2 level.

The five-year-old gelding settled in a good position, in fifth spot and one horse of the rail in the quality seven-horse field for rider Ryan Wiggins. He unleashed a withering sprint to surge past the leader Buffering in the straight and proved too strong at the line for Spirit of Boom who chased hard into second with Buffering finishing third.

“It was dominant in the end,” commented Mayfield-Smith. “It is what he has shown me, he just needed the right type of track and I have said that all along. He is a very serious horse.

“He did beat some very good horses yesterday and he beat them virtually untouched, he was just hands and heels. It is hard to find an excuse for anything behind him really.

“He will go to the Doomben 10,000 next. A start in the Stradbroke will depend on the weather and the track, if the track is shifty or the weather is bad he will go home.

“He has been a great money spinner. He has won four Listed level, placed at Group 2 and Group 3 level and has won a Group 1 race.”

Yesterday’s win was Famous Seamus’s ninth from 29 starts and takes his earnings to A$776,800 for his owners Mr J Simpson & Mrs J D Simpson.

Bred by Keltern Stud Ltd & Trelawney Thoroughbred Ltd, Famous Seamus is out of the unraced mare Clinique (Dance Floor), the dam of fellow Group winning sprinter Ahdashim (Elusive City), a full-brother to Famous Seamus.

Famous Seamus is the second Group 1 winner this season for his sire Elusive City who also sired two-year-old Vespa (NZ) to victory in the Group 1 Diamond Stakes.

Owner James Simpson’s Flagtown Ltd Pty purchased Famous Seamus for NZ$70,000 at the 2010 Karaka Select Sale from Trelawney Stud.

The Group 1 success by Famous Seamus capped a huge weekend for Karaka graduates with Pretty Pins (NZ) (Pins), Amexed (NZ) (Pentire), Rhythm to Spare (NZ) (Pins) and Rezoned (NZ) (Zabeel) all winning Group races in Australia, along with Zephyron (NZ) (Zabeel) winning at Listed level in Sydney.