Ucalledit (NZ) Lands Listed Double

Two weeks after returning to top form in the Listed Civic Stakes (1400m) at Randwick, prolific winner Ucalledit (NZ) (Zacinto) delivered a repeat result in Saturday’s A$160,000 Listed Robrick Lodge Winter Stakes over the same course and distance. 

Ucalledit was bought for only $15,000 from Book 3 of Karaka 2019. His 25-start career has now produced 10 wins and six placings, earning A$521,610 in stakes – more than 37 times his purchase price.

The gelding was a four-time winner in New Zealand at the beginning of his career, then was secured by leading syndicators Australian Bloodstock. He rose to prominence last spring with four wins from five starts between October and December, culminating in a first black-type success in the Listed Lough Neagh Stakes (1400m) in Brisbane.

Little went Ucalledit’s way in his first three starts of his new campaign this winter, but he turned things around in style in the Civic Stakes in late June. On Saturday he brought his A-game to Randwick again and came away with another black-type win.

Ridden by apprentice jockey Dylan Gibbons, Ucalledit quickened impressively to sprint out of the pack and dash to the lead with just under 200 metres remaining. A handful of challengers gave their all to try to claw him back, led by his stablemate Acquitted (Night Of Thunder), but Ucalledit was too strong and raced to victory by a length and a quarter.

“He was very good,” Gibbons said. “The last time I rode him, I rolled forward but he never really had the chance to travel due to the tempo of the race. Obviously Danny (Beasley) did it right last time and showed me how to ride him, so I just tried to replicate that.

“I didn’t really expect him to be that explosive in the straight, so it was a great win.”

Ucalledit is trained by Kris Lees, who is currently overseas and was represented at Randwick on Saturday by Cameron Swan.

“He’s certainly a winner,” Swan said. “Once he found form in his last preparation, he put a few good races together, so we were hoping for more of the same this time in. I think this was a better win today than the other day.

“He drew a tricky gate, but travelled really well and finished it off strongly. He kept working through his gears and was the strongest on the line, so he was very good.”

Ucalledit’s stakes success headed a winning treble for Karaka graduates across Saturday’s race meetings in Sydney and Melbourne. Another win at Randwick came courtesy of Wewillrock (NZ) (El Roca), who was a $35,000 purchase from Book 2 of Karaka 2020 and has now earned A$195,362 from a 13-start, five-win career.

Meanwhile in Melbourne, promising three-year-old Torranzino (NZ) (Tarzino) showed real staying potential with a powerful victory in a $150,000 race over 2000 metres. He was bought for $75,000 from Book 1 of Karaka 2021 and has now had seven starts for two wins, two placings and A$113,040 in stakes.

Vendor	Grangewilliam Stud
Purchaser	Mr KT Myers (Manawatu)
Breeding	Zacinto – Special Bay
Sale	Lot 1190, Karaka 2019 Book 3, $15,000
Bred by	W A Lawton