News

Ready2Race colt Tron Bolt wins G1 JJ Atkins

13th Jun 2026

Last year’s Inglis Ready2Race sale-topping colt Tron Bolt (Toronado) today became a G1 success story at just his fourth career start when comprehensively winning the JJ Atkins at Eagle Farm.

The Chris Waller-trained 2YO colt was already a two-time winner heading into today’s feature and punters had faith they had found a new star of Australian racing, sending Tron Bolt out a $1.80 favourite with Ladbrokes.

And the juvenile didn’t disappoint, displaying his customary turn of foot to glide through the heavy Eagle Farm surface to score a decisive victory.

Tron Bolt becomes the 123rd individual G1-winning Inglis graduate since 2018 and the third Inglis-sold 2YO to win a G1 this season alongside another colt in Fireball (Champagne Stakes) and the filly Streisand (Blue Diamond Stakes).

Hermitage Thoroughbreds purchased Tron Bolt for $900,000 at last year’s Inglis Ready2Race Sale, where he was offered by Cade Hunter and Liam Ruddy of Hunters Lodge.

Ruddy and Hunter had themselves bought Tron Bolt for $250,000 at last year’s Easter Yearling Sale, where he was offered by his breeder Gilgai Farm, but it wasn’t a smooth beginning to the journey.

“Cade wasn’t with me at Easter the day we bought him and he’d told me not to pay more than $200,000 for him but I went to $250,000 and when he called later that afternoon and I told him what I’d done, he wanted to kill me,’’ Ruddy laughed.

“We were vindicated when he sold for $900,000 a few months later at the Inglis Ready2Race Sale and we’ve been vindicated ever since really and now we’re the vendors of a G1-winning 2YO colt at his fourth start, it’s a pretty good feeling.

“It’s nice to sell a fast one. He was a very tall horse at the Ready2Race Sale but he vetted clean and a few people fell in love with him and he obviously sold extremely well.

“I think this result should act as a call to arms for all buyers – both domestic and international – to be at Riverside in October for the Inglis Ready2Race Sale because it’s a sale that delivers Group 1 winners.

“Chris [Waller] told me in January he was a proper horse and he was right. It’s huge for us, it adds a huge amount of credibility to what we do outside of breeze ups, I’ve got my trainer's licence now and Cade has expanded his breaking in business and a result like this is massive.

“We’ll be back at Riverside in October with a draft of 16 or 17 2YOs. There’s an Exceed And Excel colt, a Starspangledbanner colt and a Zoustar filly that I think are going to be the standouts, they’re beautiful horses.’’

Gilgai’s Kelly Skillecorn described Tron Bolt’s win as “unbelievable’’.

“Gee he can gallop, that’s for sure. Horses don’t do that at their fourth start very often,’’ Skillecorn said.

“We sold five Toronados that year and when he was a foal he was the best of them, that’s why he went to Easter so it’s no surprise at all to us that he’s a Group 1 winner.

“That’s another Group 1 for Gilgai and Inglis, still the only sales company we’ve won a Group 1 through!’’

G1-winning Gilgai graduates of Inglis sales include Black Caviar, All Too Hard, Lucky Bubbles, Ole Kirk, Jameka, Masked Crusader etc.

Winning trainer Waller added: “We’ve had so much luck for Hermitage…they’ve got full confidence in my team and I can’t thank them enough. They paid good money for the horse and I was lucky enough to get him to train.

“He’s a lovely type, a type who suggests to me is a miler, not an out-and-out sprinter yet he’s still good enough to win sprint races as well.

“We’ll try and use the [G1] Golden Rose as a stepping stone to either a [G1] Coolmore up the straight or the [G1] Caulfield Guineas in the spring.’’

Tron Bolt’s victory capped off a significant day for the Inglis Ready2Race Sale, which also provided the 2YO winner at Sandown today in Mbube (Rubick).

The debutant settled near the rear of the field before exploding down the outside to score an emphatic victory, announcing himself a talent of the future.

Trainer Lloyd Kennewell teamed up with Mat Becker’s Group 1 Bloodstock to buy Mbube for $300,000 at last year’s Ready2Race Sale, where he was offered by Merricks Station.

The Whitling Bloodstock-bred Mbube was initially a $1500 Great Southern Weanling Sale graduate of Supreme Thoroughbreds.

Entries for this year’s Inglis Ready2Race Sale will officially open later this month.