Photo: Grant Peters, Trackside Photography
Warmonger (War Decree) became the fourth consecutive New Zealand-bred winner of the Gr.1 Queensland Derby (2400m) with a breathtaking performance in the A$1m classic at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
A spectacular first Group One winner for Inglewood Stud stallion War Decree, Warmonger blew his rivals away by more than 10 lengths. He joined the Queensland Derby honour roll alongside the other recent Kiwi-bred winners Kovalica (2023), Pinarello (2022) and Kukeracha (2021).
This year’s Queensland Derby produced a New Zealand-bred quinella, with the Andrew Forsman-trained filly Moonlight Magic launching a late run into second. Forsman and owner-breeders the Sunlight Trust had celebrated a Listed win in New Zealand earlier that afternoon with the filly’s half-brother Belardi.
But the Derby belonged entirely to Warmonger. A Listed winner of the TAB Trophy (1800m) at Flemington in the spring, the gelding had caught the eye with strong finishes for second in the Listed Port Adelaide Guineas (1800m), fifth in the Gr.3 Chairman’s Stakes (2000m) and second in the Gr.1 South Australian Derby (2500m) in his three most recent starts.
Those performances gave trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr the confidence to carry on up to Brisbane, where Warmonger produced one of the most dominant performances in Queensland Derby history.
Drawn the outside gate in a full field of 18, Warmonger was caught four wide as the field rounded the first turn out of the home straight. Jockey Blake Shinn never panicked and allowed him to roll forward, taking up a position in fifth behind runaway leader Navy King.
Warmonger cruised up into second as Navy King began to come back to the field down the side of the track, and he soared past that tiring leader soon after straightening for home.
Warmonger had opened up a lead of more than two lengths by the 300m mark, but he was just getting started. He effortlessly moved further and further in front from there, crossing the finish line 10 and a half lengths in front of Moonlight Magic.
“What a great run by that horse,” Shinn said. “He did it the tough way out wide on the track, but he was just so comfortable all the way. He was really enjoying it and had his ears pricked going down the back of the track. It was like a track gallop.
“I asked him to extend from the 500m and he just kept building. The horse really deserved this. He’s been putting up some big performances and running second.
“The wide barrier may have played into our hands a little bit, with the inside really cutting up now. I was happy being wider out in the fresher ground, and he just enjoyed it all the way around.”
Going into Saturday’s race, Price and Kent were unsure about how Warmonger would handle a track that appeared to be on the worse side of Soft6.
“The wet track was definitely the query,” Kent said. “I was wondering what Blake was thinking at some points during the race, but he made all the right calls and put the horse in the race.
“In the end it was a real stamina test, and it was just a huge staying performance from this horse.
“He’s just flying at the moment. It’s a credit to the whole team. The horse travelled to Queensland so well.”
Warmonger is now clearly the best performer among the 37 winners from 75 runners for War Decree, whose oldest crop are four-year-olds.
His other leading performers include the Gr.2 Lowland Stakes (2100m) winner Val Di Zoldo and the stakes-placed Luvnwar, Hakadecree and Third Decree.
Out of the winning Savabeel mare Princess Sapphire, Warmonger was bred by Kevin Hickman and sold as a yearling for $75,000 before being presented by Prima Park at the 2022 New Zealand Bloodstock Ready to Run Sale. Riccarton trainer Shane Kennedy went to $165,000 to secure the youngster, having prepared his Almanzor half-sister Blue Solitaire to finish third behind Legarto in last season’s Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m).
Warmonger carries the colours of OTI Racing, who purchased him after a dominant 800m trial victory at Ashburton in April of last year for original trainers Shane Kennedy and Anna Furlong.
Inglewood’s Gus Wigley took enormous excitement out of Warmonger’s Derby demolition.
“He won that like a superstar,” he said. “It’s so great for War Decree.”
