ST GOTTHARD CRUSHES HIS RIVALS IN THE GROUP 3 KEN RUSSELL MEMORIAL ... WINS AS HE LIKES

By Graham Potter | Saturday, May 9, 2026

It was billed as a competitive contest … and why wouldn’t it be with six last start winners in the nine strong field, four of them unbeaten … but the Chris Waller trained St Gotthard (the $2.40 favourite) turned that perception on its head with a dominant display which saw him win by a touch under five lengths, seemingly with the minimum of fuss.

The chase for the minor placings brought the competitive part into play as only a little over 1.50 lengths separated the next five horses across the line but, long before that, St Gotthard was off and gone, earning $116 000 for his flawless performance which kept his perfect record intact at two wins from two starts.

“He cost a lot of money. He’s got a beautiful temperament. He’s got the looks and he’s got incredible acceleration,” said jockey James McDonald. “He’s all class.”

The ‘lot of money’ that McDonald is referring to is the $2.7 million purchase price for the son of Snitzel that was signed for by Coolmore at the 2025 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale, so the large syndicate that now own the colt will be very happy that he can run a bit and that he has already returned $155 650 in prize-money in those two starts.

More important than that though is the fact that St Gotthard has already begun the process of carving out a role as a stallion prospect later in life where the returns on investment could pay off handsomely.

Darren Beadman, who represented Waller at the Gold Coast meeting, gave further insight into the story behind St Gotthard’s triumph.

“He’s worth every bit of the 2.7,” volunteered Beadman. “He was a really classic looking colt and from the moment he came into Chris’s stable, and all through his two-year-old campaign, he has just progressed nicely.

“He takes it all in his stride. He is very professional. He’s making a good fist of his racetrack performance

“It was just nice to see him have another dimension to his racing pattern,” continued Beadman. “He was on speed, but they went quite quick up front … and he just sat behind them and let loose. He is a bright prospect.”

Waller has certainly allowed St Gotthard a gradual, measured introduction to racing.

St Gotthard had no less than two jump-outs and three trials between mid-December and the start of April before tasting race action for the first time and landing a debut win over 1200m at Warwick Farm on April 15 … and he was given another trial leading into this Gold Coast assignment.

“He could have easily have lined up in some of the bigger races over the Autumn Carnival, but Chris being Chris … and being the trainer he is … he treats them all as individuals and he looks way beyond the moment and its paying dividends with this horse,” explained Beadman.

The connections of St Gotthard, who is a full brother to the Group 1 winner Switzerland, will take two other Winter Carnival options under consideration … the Group 1 JJ Atkins and the Sires Produce … but Beadman did state that bypassing the rest of the Winter Carnival in favour of a good spell before targeting the riches of the Spring Carnival was a strong possibility.

As Beadman said, Waller ‘looks way beyond the moment’ and the Spring Carnival … the bigger picture … will definitely come into focus offering opportunities for St Gotthard to add to his resume and to rubber-stamp his credentials as a stud prospect … just as Switzerland did when winning the Coolmore Stud Stakes in 2024.

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