Rosemont Alliance boss Anthony Mithen has had to learn to be patient with Schwarz but admits Saturday’s Hawkesbury Guineas is the most important race of the colt’s career.
Rosemont paid $1.25 million for Schwarz as a yearling with scope to fill out into his body and eventually be a stallion.
Schwarz is in full flight as he wins the Amanda Elliott during the Flemington carnival last spring.Credit: Getty
“He had a few problems as a two-year-old and our team, and John O’Shea’s team, took the time to work it out and get him right, so we had to wait for him to be ready as a three-year-old,” Mithen said.
“We have always known the talent was there, and he won a stakes race at Flemington in Cup week. When you have to wait like that it can lift expectations, but I think he can live up to them.
“He was so unlucky in the Arrowfield Sprint, which we had targeted, which was frustrating, but he looks an ideal Stradbroke horse, but to get to Queensland he has to be winning on Saturday.
“It is an important race for him, just to confirm what we think about him. He has the good draw and a win would see him on his way to Queensland.”
Schwarz went to the line untested in sixth in the Arrowfield Sprint after being held up on the fence, and shrewd punters have backed him from $4.60 into $3.10 favourite for Saturday’s group 3.
“We didn’t find anything out last time,” trainer John O’Shea said. “I’m pretty sure he won’t be on the fence on Saturday because James [McDonald] knows what was left in the tank.
“He is very smart but he needs to start winning these races.”
The Rosemont Alliance is only in its third racing season and has found a number of stakes winners, but the Brisbane carnival could be where they get the ultimate prize of a group 1.
The stallion syndicate names their horses after AFL stars. Four-year-old Doull, which was a $1.2 million yearling, will run in the Gold Rush at Hawkesbury on Saturday and will be their first stallion to go stud.
“He is already a group 2 winner from the Caulfield Sprint in the spring, which was his last start,” Mithen said.
“He will stand at Rosemont this year, but we would like to get him into the Doomben 10,000, so Saturday is important for him as well.
“Schwarz is the star of the second year, and we’re hoping he can step up into the Stradbroke. And we have Bosustow, which is going up for the JJ Atkins. He has run second to Linebacker in a maiden and third to Traffic Warden in the VRC Sires, so he has form around the group 1 horses.
“We are going pretty well for only buying about a dozen horses a year, but we just need that group 1 now.”
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