Randwick trainer Paul Snowden didn’t mince his words when talking about what he thought the future would hold for this year’s Ramornie winning Ranges just over 12 months ago.
The six-year-old son of Shooting To Win has been one of the real surprise packages in Australian racing over the past year after Snowden revealed he was close to being listed on the Inglis Digital sales platform.
“He was threatened with the sack,” said Snowden, who trains in partnership with his father Peter.
“He went off running in the Benchmark 64 at Kembla and then all of a sudden he came good.
SPECIAL OFFER: UNLOCK EVERYTHING ON RACENET FOR ONLY $1
“Maybe he’s like Mr. Ed and understands English and heard the report saying, ‘That’s it.’ If he doesn’t start sticking his finger out, he’s gone.
“It went away, then came back at last year’s Gong meeting and since then, another horse. This was the turning point.
“He’s won two Listed races now and you couldn’t find a more consistent horse.
“You don’t often see them come back as five-year-olds like he did.
“It’s a real head-scratcher, but in the best possible way.”
To give some perspective on the change in fortunes for the owners at the Ranges, Castle had 25 starts and earned just over $160,000 in his first 25 starts from June 2019 to the end of the 2020/21 season.
Since then he has had two more campaigns, 12 starts later, won stakes twice and earned just $430,000.
“He’s so confident now that he’s going on now like it’s Black Caviar,” Snowden said.
“He works his tail up and is as confident as they come.
SPECIAL OFFER: UNLOCK EVERYTHING ON RACENET FOR ONLY $1
“The way he’s carried on around the stables tells me he’s ready to pick up where he left off.”
Ranges is set to kick off his latest campaign in a 900m barrier trial at Canterbury on Tuesday, with the Magic Millions Raceday on the Gold Coast on January 14 the main target.
“I think he’s ready to bounce back in Razor Sharp, but the Gold Coast is where it’s at for him,” Snowden said.
“He goes up there for the new Syndication race, 1200m, weight-for-age and worth a million.
“It would be an amazing story if he could win a million dollar race.”
Meanwhile, this year’s Magic Millions 3YO Guineas winner King Of Sparta will also be judged on Tuesday and will be back again for the Gold Coast in January.
“He had a good break and came back good,” Snowden said.
“He will go first in the Razor Sharp, then depending on how he looks and runs there will determine if he has another run before Magic Millions Day.
“We’re looking at nominating him for both the Cup (1400m) and Shards (1200m) and then decide which way we go closer to the day.”
Originally published as Peter and Paul Snowden, Ranges Heading for New Syndication Race at Magic Millions