Peter Moody & Katherine Coleman celebrated their first Group 1 victory as a partnership with their striking grey mare, Chain Of Lightning, so good up in grade at weight-for-age to take out the time-honoured 2024 TJ Smith Stakes in an upset.
2024 TJ Smith Stakes winner Chain Of Lightning was brave taking out the Group 1 in an upset at 20/1. Photo: Steve Hart.
The bonny daughter of Fighting Sun was a forgotten runner in a terrific Group 1 $3 million TJ Smith Stakes (1200m) field at Randwick despite her lead-up Rosehill win a fortnight back in the Group 3 Birthday Card Stakes (1200m).
She brought the confidence of that victory to Randwick and was given a peach of a ride in the Group 1 by Damian Lane who got the mare settled in a lovely position fourth early on.
From there she was able to capitalise on her good run and fight off the challengers in a blanket finish to become an elite level winner on Day 1 of The Championships.
On the line Chain Of Lightning at $21 held a narrow margin over the brave and always-honest Ciaron Maher-trained Group 1 winning mare Bella Nipotina who ran out of her skin for second after a pre-race delay having to be reshod after losing a shoe just before they loaded in.
“She’s rock-hard and fit and we wanted to take advantage of that and Damian Lane, what a gun ride. Beautiful,” winning trainer Moody said of Chain Of Lightning.
Moody & Coleman’s better fancied runner, last year’s winner I Wish I Win, ran a solid first-up third to complete the TJ Smith Stakes trifecta after being ridden wide out of his comfort zone throughout.
“He ran superb. He was there to win and probably just peaked on the run the last little bit,” Moody added of I Wish I Win.
Mark Walker’s 10-time Group 1 winner Imperatriz meanwhile ran fourth as the beaten favourite in a bunched finish after sweating up notably pre-race.
The TJ Smith Stakes 2024 result saw Moody celebrate his 58th Group 1 victory, while for Coleman it was her first time in the winners’ stall at the top level as a trainer.
“Thanks to Kat Coleman, my training partner, her first Group 1. Well done Katherine, well deserved,” Moody said giving credit to his co-trainer.
It was also his fourth win overall in the event named in honour of his former boss, the late, great Tommy Smith.
“Fourth time now winning the race named after ‘The Little Master’, my first boss TJ Smith, which makes me very proud,” Moody said.
2024 TJ Smith Stakes Results & Finishing Order
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Penalty | Starting Price | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 14 | CHAIN OF LIGHTNING | Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman | Damian Lane | 2 | 56.5kg | $21 | |||
| 2 | 9 | BELLA NIPOTINA | Ciaron Maher | Craig Williams | 0.31L | 10 | 56.5kg | $11 | ||
| 3 | 1 | I WISH I WIN (NZ) | Peter G Moody & Katherine Coleman | James McDonald | 0.34L | 4 | 58.5kg | $4.20 | ||
| 4 | 8 | IMPERATRIZ | Mark Walker | Opie Bosson | 0.56L | 6 | 56.5kg | $3.50F | ||
| 5 | 11 | SUNSHINE IN PARIS | Annabel Neasham | Jason Collett | 0.7L | 8 | 56.5kg | $6.50 | ||
| 6 | 10 | ESPIONA | Chris Waller | Nash Rawiller | 0.8L | 12 | 56.5kg | $17 | ||
| 7 | 13 | MAGIC TIME | Grahame Begg | Michael Dee | 1.11L | 1 | 56.5kg | $10 | ||
| 8 | 7 | JOHNNY ROCKER | Nick Ryan | Mark Zahra | 2.01L | 3 | 58.5kg | $31 | ||
| 9 | 6 | BUENOS NOCHES | Matthew Smith | Ben Melham | 2.23L | 13 | 58.5kg | $31 | ||
| 10 | 15 | WILLINGA BEAST | Kris Lees | Dylan Gibbons (a) | 2.55L | 5 | 56.5kg | $201 | ||
| 11 | 3 | MAZU | Joseph Pride | Tim Clark | 6.96L | 11 | 58.5kg | $21 | ||
| 12 | 5 | AFT CABIN | James Cummings | Zac Purton | 8.05L | 7 | 58.5kg | $16 | ||
| 13 | 4 | COAL CRUSHER | Joseph Pride | Tyler Schiller | 9.29L | 9 | 58.5kg | $31 | ||
| 12 | CYLINDER | James Cummings | Ms Jamie Kah | 0 | ||||||
| 2 | PRIVATE EYE | Joseph Pride | Blake Shinn | 0 |
Table Credit: Racing Australia.
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