AMOSU NAILS DARN HOT LADY ON THE LINE TO CLAIM THE $500 000 THE DEBUT

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 11, 2025

What a thriller! What an effort Amosu! What a ride Nikita Beriman! What a training performance Liam Birchley.

It can be argued that, with a field of unraced horses, everything has to go right on the day if you are to win the $500 000 The Debut Two-Year-Old Plate on Magic Millions Day, but that can in no way diminish the power of precise preparation … and if you back in history and you’ll find trainer Liam Birchley knows a thing or two about selecting and finding success with two-year-olds.

Amongst others, Birchley has two Karaka Millions winners, Sister Havana and Hardline, to his name. A long time ago, yes, but that kind of training expertise is never lost or forgotten and, in fact, talking two-year-olds, it could probably be described as a specialised area of training in which Birchley has excelled in the past.

Amosu came into The Debut off the back of three official trials. The daughter of Invader won two of those trials and finished second on the other. She was ridden by Berriman in all of those trials … which were designed to provide a measured learning curve to prepare Amosu for her first race-day, as well as to build the required fitness to be able to win as competitive a race as The Debut first-up.

Birchley’s expertise in setting up Amosu’s schedule leading up to the big day would prove to be spot on.

Steady on the third betting at $4.80, Amosu jumped well from pole position, but the speed came around her leaving Amosu sitting in fourth spot behind a strong gallop in the first half of the race as the $5 chance Darn Hot Lady and Craig Willaims set a lively target up front.

Using the rail to good advantage Beriman had Amosu up to third, just two lengths back, tracking the leader into the race approaching the home turn and the filly was quickly up to second place on straightening.

That is when it effectively became a two-horse race.

Darn Hot Lady, under strong urging from Williams, was full of running as the Toby Edmonds and Stephen McLean trained runner kicked on well and, while that also could be said to be the case with Amosu, there was still that no small matter of the two lengths start that Amosu had given Darn Hot Lady and the really testing task that Amosu now had to try and run the leader down.

The margin was still two lengths coming through the 200m mark … down to one length at the 100m … a half-a-length with 50m left to run … and now it became a question of whether the line would come quickly enough for Darn Hot Lady to claim a hard-earned victory.

Amosu and Beriman weren’t giving it away just yet though and, in a pulsating finish in which two top jockeys and two very promising two-year-olds gave their all, it was Amosu who got there by the narrowest of margins in the very last split second of time to carry the day for the ownership group of Mr J P Sims, Mr S Dundas, Ms D L Coughlin, Mr R N Makai, Mr R A Du Chateau, Mr P H Liedtke, Mr S A Nobbs, Mr J G Howard, Mr T G Collard, H & M Racing, Mr B Robson, Mrs A Black, Ms MP Back, Mr M Black, Mr T A Connell, Mr M Kyriakides.

“Her trail form was very good,” said Birchley, indicating his pre-race confidence from those results. “That’s the name of the game isn’t it, if you want to get a result first-up, but we didn’t know how the track was going to play,” continued Birchley, indicating he also had an area of some pre-race concern.

“But we got into the right spot … from the right barrier and we were able to take advantage of it.

“I still wasn’t sure we were going to get there.

“I do get extra satisfaction when things go well with our two-year-olds. I love it at the sales how everyone is pushing this stallion or that stallion, but you don’t necessarily need the most fashionable stallion.

“You just need the right equine athlete, who wouldn’t know who their parents are, and you can get the job done.”

Amosu (Invader – Precipitate) was Lot 65 at the 2024 Magic Millions March Yearling Sale. She was knocked down to Bloodstock Solutions for $60 000.

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