It’s Somewhat will follow a path towards the 2017 Doomben Cup after he recorded a narrow victory in the 2017 Ajax Stakes at Royal Randwick this afternoon.
It’s Somewhat gave the Godolphin team a double at Rosehill Gardens on Coolmore Classic Day. Photo by: Steve Hart
It’s Somewhat paraded with plenty of condition and looked as though he would need the run, but his class took him a long way in the Ajax Stakes and he was able to fight off New Tipperary and Testashadow to scoring a fighting win.
The Ajax Stakes win of It’s Somewhat delivered European hoop William Buick a double in his return to Australian racing and the talented jockey said that he was enjoying being back in Australia.
“It is a pleasure,” Buick said.
“This horse was really honest and really game.
“The further we were going the better he was going.
“I knew that he had a big finish and once he got in front he was always going to keep finding.
“You could argue that I was in the worst part of the track, so you might have to give the horse a little more credit for that.”
Trainer John O’Shea was clearly pleased to see It’s Somewhat make a winning return to the races in the Ajax Stakes and he is confident that the imported galloper still has plenty more improvement left in him.
O’Shea said that It’s Somewhat will have his next race start in the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m) before he heads to Queensland for the Group 2 Hollindale Stakes (1800m) and the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m).
“I think that he has all but broke the $1 million mark today and that is indicative that he has been a great servant for us,” O’Shea said.
“He has good improvement on what he did today.
“The fact that he didn’t have to go around a runner really helped him and it was a really good performance.
“The Doomben Cup is ultimately where he is heading.
“He finished fourth last year and I thought this year we would try and get him there on fresh legs.
“We might give him one more run in the Doncaster into the Hollindale to see if we can accomplish a better result this year.”
Testashadow and New Tipperary were both gallant in defeat, while pre-race favourite He’s Our Rokkii was a touch disappointing.
