Jimmysstar Takes Third Group 1 in C.F. Orr

Trainer Ciaron Maher and jockey Ethan Brown described Jimmysstar (NZ) as a matured "ultimate professional" after the gelding cruised to his third elite success—all of them landed this year—in the C.F. Orr Stakes (G1) Nov. 15. A raging AU$1.75 favorite in a seven-horse field, Jimmysstar and Brown ensured there'd be no slip-ups with an authoritative victory and a length to spare at the finish over the rival most likely to cause an upset, Angel Capital. Bred in New Zealand by Pete and Chrissy Algie in partnership with the redoubtable Per Incanto's stud Little Avondale, Jimmysstar was a serious piece of work in progress early on. He won five straight from his second start onwards, the first two of them before his switch west of the Tasman as a spring 4-year-old. He won twice more last spring, including his stakes breakthrough in Caulfield's Weekend Hussler, and announced himself among the best sprinters in the country last February with a barnstorming finish to lift the Oakleigh Plate (G1). Yet he was still learning his craft through those first 15 starts, despite them netting eight wins. More lately, though, Jimmysstar had become the complete package, blooming into one of the finest few horses in the land. That's been shown through his second top-level success in last April's All Aged Stakes (G1), his third in The Everest (G1), his next-start victory in the bizarrely-named $3 million Russell Balding Stakes, and now his Orr triumph, on a soft 7-furlong Caulfield track. Asked if Jimmysstar was his favorite horse, Brown—who's been aboard for his past nine starts—said: "By far." "He's such a beauty. It's well publicized, my love for him, and it's obvious why," he added. "He's just the ultimate professional. He wasn't easy to deal with early doors. Even when he won the Oakleigh Plate, he was very full of himself. But he's really come of age since then. He's turned into the ultimate professional and his races are showing that." With some shrewd tactics possible to beat the favorite in a small field, Brown stayed away from the fence in sixth spot in the run, with Angel Capital trailing him, two lengths last under Ben Melham, giving Jimmysstar a curiously large head start. Jimmysstar peeled four wide turning for home, setting after the leader, Evaporate (NZ). He reached the front at the 150 meters, leaving gallant 4-year-old Angel Capital an impossible task to reel him in. Evaporate hung on for third. "I believed I was on the best horse and rode him accordingly," Brown told Racing.com. "He began really well, and I even thought halfway up the hill, 'Woo boy, come back'. "Once that rush came across (from the outside) he relaxed beautifully in what was a good tempo. They came up for air a little bit down the side and then they quickened, and I had to be on top of that. He does hit a flat spot. I just had to get him through that, and he sort of felt Angel Capital there and that helped him." With his earnings reaching AU$6.68 million through his 11th career success, Jimmysstar will now be spelled, with Maher forecasting another tilt at The Everest next October, after the TJ Smith Stakes (G1) and All-Aged Stakes. "I'm absolutely rapt," Maher said. "I thought he would do that to that field today. I was just rapt with him all week. The horse and the jockey have grown a lot in confidence in the last two years. I was very comfortable watching the whole thing actually. He looked like he was in the driver's seat the whole way, and that he was." With three group 1s, Jimmysstar now ranks as the finest progeny of Per Incanto, who has 35 stakes winners worldwide from 681 runners. In Australia, the 21-year-old has 14 black-type victors from 201 starters.