News

Heathcote scores emotional Xtra Bonus win at Sunshine Coast

10th Aug 2024

Trainer Rob Heathcote declared Inglis graduate Cosmo Centauraus the best young horse he’d had since the G1-winning Rothfire after he won on debut at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday, to reap his owners a $100,000 Inglis maidens bonus.

After winning three Doomben barrier trials to serve notice of his talents, Cosmo Centaurus took out the Butler McDermott Lawyers QTIS Three-Year-Old Maiden (1000m) as a $2.30 favourite with Ladbrokes.

On top of prizemoney of $16,800 the gelding sealed a six figure windfall for connections, with the race one of 50 maidens nationwide this season incentivised by the Inglis Xtra Bonus Series.

Under the generous bonus program which is in its first season, connections of a winner of a designated Maiden will receive the $100,000 bonus if the horse is an Inglis graduate from 2023 and beyond and paid up for the Inglis Race Series.

Saturday’s Sunshine Coast event was the second of this season’s 50 Inglis Xtra Bonus races spread far and wide around the country.

The first, at Coffs Harbour on Friday, August 2, also ended with the $100,000 bonus going off to connections of its winning Inglis Easter Yearling Sale graduate Art’s Alive.

In the second such race on Saturday, of the nine runners, four Inglis graduates were eligible to receive the bonus, and they filled the first four placings.

Cosmo Centaurus was first sold at the 2022 Inglis Australian Weanling Sale, offered through the draft of Fairview Park and bought by Randwick Bloodstock Agency for $30,000.

He was then offered at the 2023 Inglis Classic Yearling Sale by Middlebrook Valley Lodge, and purchased for $140,000 by Heathcote and Paul Willetts Bloodstock.

Having raced prominently through the early stages, Cosmo Centauras edged to the lead on straightening at the 350m, and ran clear powerfully to score by 0.8 lengths from Dream Smart, with Heart And Spirit a further neck away and Balmoral taking fourth, two lengths ahead of the next runner.

The win brought a mixture of elation, emotion and relief for Heathcote, who trained Rothfire to win six of his seven two-year-old starts culminating in the G1 JJ Atkins (1600m) at Eagle Farm, and who also prepared former G1 star Buffering.

Heathcote had already praised Cosmo Centaurus highly by comparing him to Rothfire before the race, following wins in the past three of his four barrier trials.

“He’s a cracker,” Heathcote said on Saturday.

“I put a bit of pressure on myself by saying he’s the best juvenile I’ve had in my yard since Rothfire, but he’s got the job done today and I know there’s a lot of improvement to come.”

“I have been patient,” he said. “I wanted to win this race, and I felt that if I’d run him earlier in a maiden I couldn’t have held him back.

“It's a special win for us, because Paul Willetts, who was formerly in Buffering and a few other good ones, bought this horse. So thank you Paul.”

The triumph was also tinged with sadness. Heathcote dedicated the victory to Brad Russell, who was a part-owner of the gelding, and who died of a heart attack while competing in a kayak race on the Gold Coast only last weekend.

“It’s always special to win a race, particularly when it’s got quite a nice amount of money to it. So thank you Inglis,” the trainer said.

“But more importantly, these owners are near and dear friends of mine and it’s special to us.

“I want to dedicate the win, because we lost our best mate last Saturday, at 58. Brad Russell and family, this is for you mate.”

Wheeler said the victory had vindicated the faith the stable had in Cosmo Centaurus throughout his lead-up to his racetrack debut.

“We’ve had big wraps on this guy for a fair while now,” Wheeler said.

“But you don’t know until you see them come and do it on raceday.

“He was too good for them today and I was quite soft on him to be fair, so it’s very exciting for the future.”

The next Inglis Xtra Bonus eligible Maiden will be run on the Kensington track at Randwick this Wednesday, August 14.

For the most up to date schedule of Inglis Xtra Bonus Maidens, CLICK HERE.

For more information on the $12.55m Inglis Race Series, CLICK HERE.