3 minute read

Tracey Bartley has a sense that his Four Pillars winner Kiss Sum could be something a little bit special.

The Wyong trainer, who tasted Group 1 success over a decade ago with Sniper's Bullet, applauded the introduction of the $700,000 feature race at Rosehill for Midway eligible horses and it seems in the case of Kiss Sum it's a stepping stone to better things.

Bartley thought he had the race won when his other runner Barossa Rosa hit the lead at the 300m but he noticed something shooting along the rails as the mare started to tire and to his delight it was Kiss Sum.

"She looked home. I didn't know the colours on the inside,'' Bartley said.

"I didn't know it was him. It's incredible. I'm rapt in the staff and the work that has gone into these horses to have them spot-on for today is relentless and every trainer will tell you that.

"To have two horses run really well in the race is a credit to our staff, the riders, everyone."

The Four Pillars was created in part due to the success of The Kosciuszko, which has established itself as the pinnacle of country racing.

Eighteen second chance winners were drawn from The Kosciuszko ticket sales and they were given the opportunity to select a horse from 212 nominated Midway eligible horses.

Kiss Sum, who has now won three from seven, was picked up early by John George, who bought his ticket at Corrimal, and while he wasn't on track he was rapt with the success.

Bartley said the new race is a masterstroke and it's great for the owners of horses at a benchmark level to be racing for so much money.

In Kiss Sum's case, if Bartley is right, the Four Pillars won't be the biggest race the lightly performed three-year-old wins.

"It's been a long time since I've had a good one like Sniper's (Bullet),'' he said.

"You wait for another good horse to come along. I had mine when I was a young fellow and to get another really serious horse (is great).

"We work hard. Lots and lots of hours go into these horses, they just don't make it overnight. It's been a well-executed plan, both horses have run incredibly well.

"If she'd drawn an alley the mare, they probably wouldn't have beaten her, that's all that cost her the race."

Jockey Jason Collett said Bartley's decision to apply blinkers to the gelding was a big help as he settled a lot better than he had in his two previous starts when beaten at the midweeks.

They certainly helped the horse focus when Collett drove him through a gap along the rails and he dashed clear to beat Dufresne with Divine Breath making ground to run third.

"(Blinkers) really helped today. I guess it just blocks out a lot of the other runners so there is a lot less for him to focus on,'' Collett said.

"We learnt a bit about him from the last few starts. Things haven't been going our way, with slowly run races exposing a few of his weaknesses which are obviously his racing manners.

"But he travelled beautifully. The tempo of the race helped and I got all the breaks."