Riodini hits target in The Gong

[Wandering Eyes]

It had been more than three years between wins for Riodini (NZ) but the wait was worth it as the six-year-old son of Proisir made his Australian breakthrough in the A$1 million The Gong (1600m) at Kembla Grange on Saturday.

Originally trained by Nigel Tiley, Riodini won his first four starts in New Zealand, including the Gr.3 Bonecrusher Stakes (1400m) in December 2019.

Transferred to Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott on the back of a Group One placing in the Levin Classic (1600m), Riodini has performed admirably from his Sydney quarters without greeting the judge first.

The gelding boasts Group One placings over the Randwick Mile in both the Epsom Handicap and George Main Stakes but rewarded his connections with a gutsy performance to score on Saturday.

The late-spring feature had been a target race for Riodini, who had warmed up with unplaced runs in the Gr.3 Sydney Stakes (1200m) and the A$3 million Nature Strip (1300m) before relishing the step-up to a mile.

Ridden by Tim Clark, Riodini ($6.50 favourite) raced three-wide without cover throughout and was buffeted early on straightening but showed the benefit of carrying just 53.5kg in displaying his fighting qualities to score by half a length.

Hope In Your Heart (Dundeel) ($7.50) finished runner-up for home-track trainer Kerry Parker, ahead of Old Flame (Invincible Spirit) ($7), with Wild Planet (Animal Kingdom) ($31) crossing the line fourth after leading.

“It was a real target race, third-up over the mile, and he got in really well at the weights,” Clark said.

“He had a good lead-up to this race with his two runs. He covered a bit of ground there, but I guess today that hasn’t been the worst thing, and he toughed it out really well at the end there.

“Hope In Your Heart is a mare I’ve had a little bit to do with, I know how talented she is and how well she’s going, and I just felt that inside the last 100m he really responded when he felt her coming.

“It’s a great result for this horse, he’s been a long time out of the winner’s stall but it’s good to see him back in form and getting a win because he’s been very honest.”

Riodini has now amassed A$1,167,928 in prizemoney with five wins and six placings from his 24 starts to date, and has further lucrative options, with the A$2 million The Ingham Stakes (1600m) at Randwick on December 10 (formerly the Villiers Stakes) an obvious target.

Bred by Rich Hill Stud co-owner Alan Galbraith, who shares in the ownership of the gelding with wife Liz, daughter Celia and her husband Mike, Riodini is yet another great advertisement for stallion of the moment Proisir, sire of Group One winners Levante (NZ), Dark Destroyer (NZ), Pier (NZ) and Legarto (NZ).

Riodini is out of Perfectly Ready mare Giardini (NZ), who won three races and is closely related to Gr.2 Hawke’s Bay Guineas winner Sir Andrew (NZ) (Sir Percy) and Gr.1 All Aged Stakes (1400m) winner Des’s Dream (NZ) (Dahar).

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