Storm Front’s pedigree, trial form and reputation within the Tony Pike stable created a buzz around his race-day debut in Saturday’s Dunstan Horsefeeds 2YO (1100m) at Ellerslie, and the promising colt produced a first-up performance worthy of the hype.
Storm Front is by Australian super-sire Snitzel out of the Per Incanto mare Indecision, who Pike trained to win six races including the Listed Hallmark Stud Handicap (1200m), Legacy Lodge Sprint (1200m) and NZB Finance Sprint (1200m). Indecision also placed in the Gr.3 Sweynesse Stakes (1215m) and was a close fifth in the Gr.1 Railway (1200m).
Offered by co-breeders Trelawney Stud in Book 1 of Karaka 2024, Storm Front was bought by Pike for $400,000. The colt has made a highly favourable impression on his trainer through the early stages of his two-year-old preparation, including a smart two-length trial win at Ellerslie on September 10.
Storm Front returned to the same venue to make his debut in Saturday’s $45,000 two-year-old sprint, and he lived up to his $2.10 favouritism with a dominant performance.
Storm Front broke well from the starting gates and jockey Matt Cartright sent him forward to sit on the outside of the leader, last-start winner Vega For Luck.
Once Storm Front got balanced up in the home straight, Cartwright released the brakes and went for gold. The favourite kicked away from Vega For Luck and the strong-finishing Belle Du Monde, pulling ahead to win impressively by two and a quarter lengths.
“He’s a pretty progressive colt,” Cartwright said. “I’ve ridden a few two-year-olds this season, and he’s definitely one of the better ones.
“He did a bit wrong coming around the turn, and it just goes to show how green he still is and how much improvement he’s got. But he put them away well and had a lot more left.
“He’s a nice horse going forward. I think he’ll be pretty exciting come the autumn.”
Storm Front earned $25,875 from Saturday’s win, which propels him straight to the top of the order of entry for the Karaka Millions 2YO (1200m) at Ellerslie on January 25. The weekend’s other two-year-old winners, Roc ‘N’ Ready at Riccarton and Too Sweet at Trentham, each earned $23,000 and took prominent positions just behind him in the standings.
“He’s a lovely horse going forward,” Pike said. “We always thought he might be a bit new and green in his first start today, but most two-year-olds are. He just got on the wrong leg.
“But the best part of his race was the last 200m. He really drew away and did it comfortably in the end, which was good to see.
“We can work our way towards the Karaka Millions now. He’s a horse that I think is going to improve with a bit of time on his side, so it’s really exciting to have a nice colt like this in the stable.
“He’s a Snitzel colt, so it would be nice to get a bit of black type along the way as well if we can. But we’ll probably give him a week in the paddock for now and then make some plans after that.”