Regally bred colt Piercing Arrow has continued Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott’s outstanding run with two-year-olds this season, posting an impressive debut win at Warwick Farm to earn a spring carnival tilt.
By super sire I Am Invincible out of Listed winner Silently, Piercing Arrow fetched $1 million as a Magic Millions yearling and made the perfect start to his racing career with an all-the-way win in the TAB Handicap (1200m) on Wednesday.
“A lot of depth to this colt,” Bott said.
“The ownership group paid some good money for it at the yearling sales and as a type, you’ll see why, and he’s got a lovely page to back him up.
“I really want to work back from a couple of nice targets in the spring, being mindful of his value and potential and of where we can build a nice profile for him.”
Bott said Piercing Arrow, the stable’s 27th juvenile winner this season, was likely to head to the paddock so he could return in time for the three-year-old features.
The colt races in the yellow and white colours of Sir Owen Glenn’s Go Bloodstock, which also owns stablemate and Canonbury Stakes winner Red Resistance, one of the fancied runners for the Golden Slipper before his race morning scratching due to a temperature.
Bott said the ownership group had a good mix of talented homebreds and astute sales purchases, such as Piercing Arrow.
“Sir Owen Glenn and Steve O’Connor (of) Go Bloodstock, they’ve put together some really good homebreds and they’ve had a fantastic season with horses they’ve bred off the farm at Newgate,” Bott said.
“But they’ve gone out and bought some select purchases at the yearling sales such as this colt and they’ve been able to land some really nice types.
“He’s closely related to Criterion, which Sir Owen raced, and I think this will certainly mean a lot to him.”
Ridden by Tim Clark, Piercing Arrow ($5.50) scored by a length over Need Some Luck ($3.60 fav) with Copacabana ($4) third.
The Clark and Waterhouse-Bott combination finished the day with a winning double after the recently gelded Omni Man took out the final event.