Passing Fires His Best Shot

Three-year-old Passing Shot (NZ) (Swiss Ace) achieved his first stakes victory in the Group 3 $70,000 BMW Mr Tiz Trophy (1200m) on Saturday at Ellerslie.

Passing Shot (NZ) wins the Group 3 BMW Mr Tiz Trophy. Photo courtesy of Trish Dunell.

Now with three consecutive wins from his 14 starts, Passing Shot's winning streak continued. Trained by Stephen McKee, he has performed in a number of stakes races, including a second placing in the Group 3 Bonecrusher Stakes at Ellerslie.

“Since he’s been brought back to sprint trips he’s found his way,” commented McKee. “Red Striker was always going to be the horse to beat and it was a good effort to hold her off.

“We might look at taking him back up to 1400 metres in the Wellington Guineas, but we’ll see how he pulls up after this first.”

Opie Bosson took the ride on Passing Shot, going forward from barrier 1 to find a position on the rail third from the leader. The pair tracked pacemaker Peak Performer (More Than Ready) until they reached the corner and pulled out to be three-wide.

With a clear run on the home straight, the Swiss Ace colt let down and dashed for home, taking the lead within the final 100m. Red Striker (NZ) (Red Giant) ran on to finish behind Passing Shot by a neck and Mighty Maverick (Snitzel) came in for third place.

The three-year-old colt is owned by The Ace Syndicate of Go Racing, managed by Albert Bosma, and has now reached a total of $137,200 in prizemoney.

Passing Shot was purchased at the 2013 Karaka Select Sale for $50,000 by Go Racing from Westbury Stud, home of his sire Swiss Ace.

Bred by Gerry Harvey, Passing Shot is out of Derrydane (Danehill) and is a half-brother to stakes placegetter Joesreach (More Than Ready), third in the Listed Aquanita Stakes.