Witness to Star for Ontrack

ONTRACK THOROUGHBREDS PURCHASE ATHLETIC TYPE

Ontrack Thoroughbreds are teaming up again with Mick Price, who trained their quality galloper Faster Son. The combination are guiding the career of a promising filly named Invincible Heart (ex Bella Heart) from the Caulfield base.

Invincible Heart showed Price and Ontrack enough to start the bay fillies career off in a race at Moonee Valley werein the bay finished third in a field of eight on debut. Since that great effort in the metropolitan area Invincible Heart got the maiden win out of the way with a three-and-a-half lenght win at Moe in August.

Price particularly liked this colt by Star Witness that Morgan selected out of the William Inglis Easter sale. Ontrack Thoroughbreds value Price's opinion and judgement Grant Morgan the principal of Ontrack has decided to send the colt to Price to train.

As you can see in the picture to the right the colt has plenty of bone. Being by Star Witness, winner of the Group 1 Blue Diamond that retired for stud duties in 2011, that horses first crop have shown their worth with the young sire finishing third on the 'First Season' sires list for the 2014-15 season. Star Witness, had eight individual winners from 38 runners and of those winners two won stakes races Pearl Star (ex Pearl of the Sea by Fastnet Rock) and The Barrister (ex Strikeline by Desert Sun) all up the horses progeny earned connections $662,550.

Star Witness was one of the top rated colts of his generation owning an Australian and New Zealand Classification of 112. A figure the chestnut shared with Decision Time a point behind the Group 1 Golden Slipper winner, Crystal Lily (113).

Star Witness showed his talent early winning on debut at Moonee Valley then connections took aim at the Listed Talindert Stakes on the the New Years day card at Flemington. The chestnut easily handled the step up in grade to win the race by a length-and-a-half. Just three weeks later Star Witness won the Group 1 Blue Diamond Stakes (1200m) with a spectacular come from behind sprint to land the feature by the barest margin.

Star Witness trained on during his three-year-old season showing his liking for Flemington's famous straight course to win the Group 1 VRC Ascot Vale Stakes (1200m) during the Clubs Melbourne Cup Carnival on Derby Day.

This syndicate will be managed by Ontrack Thoroughbreds.

NOT ENOUGH? When Star Witness covered mares by Fastnet Rock the cross is already proven with the Dequetteville Stakes winner Pearl Star. being out of Pearl of the Sea.

The dam of this colt, Miskish retired with four wins and six placings from a 27-run career after earning connections $125,230. A half-sister to the eight-time winner Nan Tien (by Jan Murray), including wins the Listed City Tatt's Lightning and Listed Carrington Quality Stakes over 1000m.

Miskish descends from a female family that's produced Centaine with the family heavy in black type as the South African Group 1 winner Laisserfaire (by Danehill) appears as does the Group 3 VATC Tristrac Stakes winner Procrastinate (by Jade Hunter) now in-turn the dam of A Time For Julia (four wins including the Group 3 Wenona Girl Hcp). Others include Time Thief (two wins plus the Listed Zeditave Stakes), Foreplay (two wins including the JRA Stakes) and Galapagos Girl (winner of four plus the Group 3Frances Tressady Stakes).

When the going is good, it isn't so difficult for a trainer to be the master of the situation.

But a better guide can be how reversals and misfortune are handled. In the past couple of seasons Mick Price has dealt with both sides of the racing coin with equal skill and good grace.

During the 2013-14 season Price turned the handy sprinter Lankan Rupee into a world
champion. Six months after he topped the international lists, Lankan Rupee appeared to be struggling to recapture his best form. But his trainer maintained peak performance throughout, dealing with the slight disappointment and coaxing perhaps the performance of his career out of Lankan Rupee to win the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley.

The durable galloper returned from a spring break and scored an emphatic victory under the weight-for-age scale in the VRC's Group 1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) in February.

Before, Lankan Rupee had come on the scene his banner horse had been his star filly Samaready, a series of setbacks were confronted, dealt with and resolved. It is all part of what makes Price one of Australia's top 10 trainers and one of Melbourne's top-10.

Price began training with a one-horse team in 1991 and within half a dozen years he'd
produced his first Group 1 winner.

The total now stands at 20 Group 1 wins in four states in a wide spectrum of races.
Price-trained runners have won at Group 1 level in juvenile company, three-year-old
classics, weight-for-age, sprints, staying races and with imports and locally-bred runners alike.

In the stable's stellar 2008-09 season, he trained six Group 1 winners and 10 at Group 2and Group 3 level.

With Price there is a distinct attitude of attention to detail matched by a crystal clear recognition of the status of the owners. When matched with a keen eye and a talent for placement, it is little wonder Price is permanently among the best.

At the juvenile end of the scale, Price has had notable success. He won a Blue Diamond Stakes with Samaready having earlier "won" and lost it with Roedean. He's also had great success with such youngsters as Halibery, Perfectly Ready and Malasun.

Among the other Group 1 winners from the Price stable are Pompeii Ruler, who won an Australian Cup and the Queen Elizabeth Stakes at the top level. He's won two of Adelaide's best races, the Robert Sangster Stakes with Bel Mer and the Goodwood with Velocitea and further afield he's claimed a Group 1 Railway Stakes in Perth with Slavonic.

Price-trained runners are expected to run well at all the major carnivals, and generally they do. Spring Group 1 trophies have come in Melbourne in the Thousand Guineas thanks to Gallica and Alamosa in the Toorak Handicap, while Aloha has won the always very strong Coolmore Classic at Sydney's autumn carnival.

Price hasn't been outside the top five on the Melbourne trainers' championship in the past five years and was up there again in 2013-14 with 115 winners nationally with $8.4 million in prizemoney.

Last racing season, 2014-15, Price trained 103 winners nationally from 719 runners and those horses collected $6.1 million in prizemoney for connections and once again Price kept his 'top five' record in tact.