Shooting To Win sired his first Group 1 winner since arriving at Oakland Park Stud when Dom To Shoot prevailed in a three-way photo-finish to the Northerly Stakes (1800m) on Saturday.
Dom To Shoot (6g Shooting To Win – Princess Rouge by Pins) ran down the favourite Zaaki (Leroidesanimaux) and Zipaway (Playing God) for owner-breeder Wally Daly and trainers Sean & Jake Casey at Ascot.
He had been placed in Perth’s signature weight-for-age contest as a summer 3yo in 2020 behind the Peters Investments pair Truly Great and Inspirational Girl (NZ) but his only other black-type victory had been in the G3 Northam Stakes (1300m) in April this year.
“It’s unreal. I can’t believe it,” Jake Casey said. “What a horse he’s been for us and to cap it off with this is fantastic. Jarrad (Noske) rode him perfectly but when you’re chasing a horse like Zaaki, you can never be too confident.”
It was a fitting win for Oakland Park owners Neville and Susan Duncan. They bred and raced Northerly (Serheed) and are welcoming the first foals by Shooting To Win (Northern Meteor) at their elite south-west nursery this season.
Dom To Shoot dives right on the line to defeat Zipaway (centre) and Zaaki (rails) in the G1 Northerly Stakes / Photo: Western Racepix
Shooting To Win initially stood at Darley in the Hunter Valley following a career that climaxed with a Group 1 in the 2014 MRC Caulfield Guineas (1600m).
He’s a full brother to leading sire Deep Field and stands alongside Sessions (Lonhro) at Oakland Park.
Daly and his brother brother George, who died three years ago, first came to prominence in 1981 with Little Imagele (Imagele) who won the Northerly Stakes that year when it was known as the Western Mail Classic. Their Hot Pink and Royal Blue Checked colours have also been carried by Group 1 winners Jacks Or Better and Vega Magic.
They paid $135,000 for Dom To Shoot’s dam Princess Rouge at the 2012 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale after racing her older brother Pin Rouge to 10 wins topped by a LR Bunbury Stakes. Her injury-interrupted career was limited to four starts before visiting Shooting To Win in her second season at stud.
“I really like Shooting To Win,” Daly said. “He’s a brother to Deep Field and some people think he was a better racehorse. I’ve bred and races several horses by him and the best of the others has probably been Charleton Eddie.”
Charleton Eddie has won 6 races for $437,000 in earnings to date and his most recent victory was in the Nicopolis Stakes (1200m) at Belmont in July. His dam Refemme (Surtee) has an unnamed 2yo filly by Shooting To Win.
Princess Rouge missed to Shooting To Win after foaling the Northerly Stakes winner and missed again for two seasons before delivering a Playing God colt in September.
Shooting To Win has sired 209 individual winners and Dom To Shoot clocked his 600th win on Saturday. His first Group 1 winner had arrived when Mascarpone landed the Otaki Maori Stakes (1600m) for Team Rogerson in April 2022.
