Tulloch Lodge on verge of record-breaking season
A midweek double at Canterbury has propelled Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott to 165 wins this term, equalling their previous best mark with six weeks of the season remaining.
The training partners kicked off Wednesday’s meeting with their 32nd two-year-old winner of the season when Wanaruah led throughout in the Golden Mile @ Darley Handicap (1250m) before Summer Loving landed her maiden win in the James Squire Plate (1250m).
They are now poised to celebrate their most successful season since joining forces in 2016 and have already smashed their previous best prizemoney tally set in 2022-23 by nearly $10 million, training the winners of over $29 million in stakes.
“We have been trying to build the partnership and you’re always trying to find those little milestones to keep improving on each year,” Bott said.
“Also, to improve the quality of the horses coming in and the longevity of their campaigns, everything that we can do to help get those better results each year.”
The backbone of the stable’s success has been their juveniles, highlighted by Lady Of Camelot’s Golden Slipper victory, while Slipper placegetter Storm Boy was dominant in the Magic Millions Classic.
Wanaruah added his name to Tulloch Lodge’s list of two-year-old winners at Canterbury and Bott doesn’t expect the debut victory to be the colt’s last.
“It was a really nice starting performance for him for his career,” Bott said.
“There is a lot of upside there.
“It’s not easy kicking off over that sort of trip and doing that first time out against horses who have had some exposure, so it was a really good effort and a nice professional effort from him.”
Bott will look to give Wanaruah another run in the hope of elevating his prizemoney levels before the spring and is also keen to extend him in journey.
“I wouldn’t be afraid of stretching him over a little bit further next start,” he said.
“I think that sets him up really well so that we can get a good gauge on him and see where he may fall for some nice races in the spring.”
Wanaruah ($2.05 betting fav) and Summer Loving ($1.80 fav) were both partnered by Tim Clark, who combined with Tulloch Lodge to plunder the Group 3 Gunsynd Classic aboard Bases Loaded at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
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