Gun mare primed for Sydney

NASH RAWILLER will ride Cambridge mare Silent Achiever when she clashes with It’s a Dundeel and possibly Fiorente in the Group I Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill on March 22.

Rawiller, who will be having his first ride on Silent Achiever, has ridden more metropolitan winners than any other Australian jockey this term, at a strike rate of better than 20 per cent.

The Sydney rider has had 53 metropolitan wins, from 244 rides, and his mounts have earned more than A$5.6 million.

He has won 14 black-type races this season, including three Group I wins – Victoria Oaks, Myer Classic and Toorak Handicap – at the Melbourne spring carnival.

Rawiller has been committed to the Waterhouse stable for much of his career and will be having his first mount of note for Roger James, who trains Silent Achiever.

“I think he might have ridden one slow one for me,” James said yesterday. “But he’s a great jockey.”

Silent Achiever, who finished fifth in the Ranvet last year, showed she was in good order for a second attempt when winning the Group I weight-for-age New Zealand Stakes (2000m) at Ellerslie on Saturday.

However, she is likely to strike a hot field this month. Boban, who beat It’s a Dundeel in the Chipping Norton Stakes at Warwick Farm on Saturday, will not be there but It’s a Dundeel will and possibly Australian Cup winner Fiorente.

It’s a Dundeel could not match Boban’s acceleration at Warwick Farm but will be fitter for the race and suited by a step up to 2000m.

Fiorente added to his extraordinary record when beating Green Moon in the Australian Cup (2000m) on Saturday. Silent Achiever, with Vinnie Colgan aboard, clears out to win the Group I New Zealand Stakes at Ellerslie on Saturday.

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In the space of nine Australian starts, Fiorente has been group I-placed at 1400m, a Group II winner at 1600m, a Group I winner at 2000m, placed in a Cox Plate and had a win and a second in the Melbourne Cup.

Silent Achiever was a $2 favourite for the New Zealand Stakes and was clearly superior, at her first start in a New Zealand group race since her 2012 New Zealand Derby triumph.

The O’Reilly mare has now had five wins and a third from six starts in group company in New Zealand and had six wins and two placings from eight appearances at Ellerslie.

Rider Vinnie

Colgan was

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Vinnie Colgan pressed with the five-year-old on Saturday.

“She pulled a little bit in the running but the acceleration, with not a lot of pressure, was quite outstanding,” Colgan said.

“The last furlong, she just put paid to them.”

Colgan, 38, was apprenticed to James and has won almost 120 races for the stable but Saturday’s triumph was his first Group I win with James since the 1999 Manawatu Sires’ Produce on One Under.

Silent Achiever will have three starts in Sydney, with the A$500,000 Ranvet followed by the A$1.5 million BMW (2400m) and the A$1 million Sydney Cup (3200m).

The Sydney Cup will be her first attempt at 3200m and also her first run in Australia under handicap conditions.

James is confident his stable star will get 3200m but doubts whether the blinkers will remain on the mare for her Sydney Cup bid.

Silent Achiever raced in blinkers for the first time when winning an open 1500m at Ellerslie last month.

“They [blinkers] have worked but she was pretty keen [on Saturday],” James said. “But we will keep them on for the next one.”

Silent Achiever’s best effort at Group I level in Australia has been a close second in last year’s BMW but with the benefit of age and blinkers, might be at her peak this autumn.

She will also improve with Saturday’s race.

“She’s normally very cleanwinded but she did have a bit of a puff yesterday,” James said. “But it is also another step up over there [in Sydney].”

James is likely to remember Saturday’s Ellerslie meeting for some time. In addition to his Group I win, he recorded his 1000th win in New Zealand when The Tidy Express won the race before the New Zealand Stakes and was also celebrating his birthday.

He started his training career in partnership with Jim Gibbs, winning 120 races with Gibbs before going out on his own and has also won about 45 races in Australia.

Silent Achiever might not be James’ only runner at the Sydney carnival, with Zonza and Lady Cumquat also under consideration.

Zonza, a creditable fourth when resuming in the Group III Westbury Classic last week, could tackle fillies and mares races, and three-year-old Lady Cumquat might contest the A$165,000 Nolan Classic (1600m) at Kembla Grange on March 23.

Kevin Hickman, the ownerbreeder of Silent Achiever, was another to have more than one reason to celebrate on Saturday, as he is also the breeder of the Group I Diamond Stakes winner Vespa.