Bustling Cements Star Status After Sires Romp
Bustling not only boosted his status as the next rising star of Western Australia racing, but also gave trainer Dan Morton a unique feature double following a stroll in the park victory at Ascot on Saturday.
After romping home by 4 ¼ lengths in the Karrakatta Plate (1200m), the hype continues to grow for the Oakland Park bred Bustling who dazzled again to win the WA Sires’ Produce Stakes (1400m) by 2 ½ lengths.
The winning margin was not as great as the Karrakatta Plate two weeks ago, but the Frosted gelding had the Group 3 Sires’ safely in his grasp and sent out the $1.32 favourite he gave supporters no cause for concern.
Giving jockey Brad Parnham an armchair ride, Bustling sat outside the pacemaker Battle Commander, burst clear fanning for home before extending his lead in the straight and cruising to the post under his own steam.
Golden Kathleen tried hard to go with Bustling and chase him down, but although outclassed she battled away valiantly for second, the same placing she occupied behind Siren Assault in the Gimcrack Stakes (1100m).
Big Shots, trained by Luke Fernie, ran on strongly from seventh position at the turn for third, beaten four lengths to give the Parnham brothers a Sires riding trifecta with Chris on Big Shots and Steven aboard Golden Kathleen.
Morton added a fourth Sires’ title to his training resume after Bliss Street, Camporella and Super Smink and also claimed his second consecutive Karrakatta Plate-Sires’ double after Super Smink’s efforts 12-months ago.
Morton said Bustling is displaying all the signs of being a special horse.
“He’s very exciting, that’s for sure,” Morton said.
“We’ve been trying to keep a lid on it in between runs.
“He’s very exciting and has all the right attributes too.
“He’s a gentleman to train and a beautiful mover.
“It’s rare to have all the attributes so young, but he’s been ticking all the right boxes for a while.”
After bursting onto the juvenile scene in March, Bustling ends his maiden campaign and potentially departs Perth racing on four wins and a second from five starts for a touch over half a million dollars in earnings.
Morton was reluctant to discuss Bustling’s immediate future, but there are strong reports suggesting the star two-year-old will be sold to international buyers.
“We’ll deal with it as it comes, but I took the phone off the hook half way through the week so I could concentrate on the races,” Morton said.
“We’ll see what happens, but we’ll enjoy the win.
“They’re rare horses and you don’t get that opportunity every week.
“We’ll take him home and put him in cotton wool now.”
Parnham was quick to get back on Bustling after Sydney hoop, Blake Shinn had the responsibilities in the Karrakatta Plate.
Parnham claimed his third Sires’ trophy after booting home Snowdome and Brava Fortune for his trainer-dad, Neville.
“It’s definitely the easiest win in a feature race and I probably won’t get too much more like that,” Parnham said.
“Once we got to 600 I wanted to make sure I was cruising along comfortably and he was pretty much doing the job on his own from there.
“He did it within himself and there was no point really testing him anymore.
“I don’t know what’s happening with the horse from now on, but he’s a pretty good horse anyway.”
Julio Santarelli