Tricolours stick to ‘Wright formula in BJ McLachlan Stakes

Tricolours Racing and Tulloch Lodge will be out to debunk the theory that lightning doesn’t strike twice with The Playwright in Saturday’s BJ McLachlan Stakes at Eagle Farm.

Tricolours won the $300,000 Group 3 in 2022 with The Novelist who, like The Playwright, is by Written By out of a daughter of Snitzel, is in the care of Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott and is raced by an all-female ownership group.

Tricolours director James Moss would love to give the group associated with The Playwright a similar thrill on Saturday, but with the added kicker of lining up in the $3 million Magic Millions 2YO Classic on January 11.

“The Novelist won it at his second career start and was well on his way to the Magic Millions, he was about $7 in the market for the big race, but unfortunately got injured not long after the B J McLachlan and he’s had a chequered history with injury since,” Moss said.

“Hopefully, this year, we can go one better with The Playwright for another full-female syndicate.

“Hopefully on Saturday she’s not only winning, but she comes through it well, and the ladies get there on the big day.”

The Playwright, a $60,000 Book 2 yearling at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, is further proof of a bloodline that Moss was an earlier believer in.

The Written By-Snitzel cross is the most successful in that Widden stallion’s young career, with six of the seven horses with that mix who have raced having visited the winner’s stall.

The Novelist, a $110,000 Gold Coast yearling, is a member of Written By’s first crop, the result of a union with Sunlit, while The Playwright is out of Sugarparma.

Trained by Peter Robl, Sugarparma finished fourth in the 2015 B J McLachlan Stakes under Regan Bayliss, who was aboard for The Playright’s narrow-but-impressive debut win over Icarian Dream at Rosehill on November 30 and will again ride on Saturday.

The Playwright is Sugarparma’s second foal by Written By, with Tricolours also the owners of the first, Manuscript, an $85,000 Gold Coast yearling who has had just three starts and is already a winner.

“Going up to Magic Millions last year, she wasn’t hard to find being a full sister to Manuscript and she was one of the first horses I wanted to see,” Moss said.

“She was a little bit different to Manuscript, who was a very strong, physical-looking two-year-old, whereas I thought The Playwright might take a little more time.

“But once we got her home from the sales she really blossomed and every time we did some work with her, or she got broken in, or came into the stables, she just really thrived.

“She’s one of those sneaky horses that continues to improve with everything she does and that’s what we’ve seen from her in trials to raceday.

“Her trials were good, but with improvement to come and that’s what she did, she improved again, so let’s hope she can do that again on Saturday.”

The Playwright drew barrier eight in the 1200m B J McLachlan Stakes, which has attracted a field of 14 plus three emergencies, with Icarian Dream (barrier 13) again a rival, along with high-profile local Hi Barbie (10).