ROTHFIRE IS KING OF THE MOUNTAIN

By Graham Potter | Monday, January 1, 2024

It’s official. Rothfire is King Of The Mountain (KOTM).

In the weeks leading up to the race the general consensus of opinion was that the result of the KOTM was a foregone conclusion ... as if that is ever the case in racing ... with Rothfire’s far superior form simply gapping the rest on paper, to the point that there was a real belief there that Rothfire’s presence was scaring off some of the prospective opposition as the remaining slots were filled at a snail’s pace.

Rothfire duly took home the trophy and a first prize cheque of $350 000 with a precision performance befitting of a horse of his standing with a gameplan carried out to perfection.

In the run Rothfire proceeded to tick off one box after the other .... Jump from the widest gate ... push forward and obtain a run on the speed ... stalk the leader to the home turn ... challenge early in order to assert authority ... and then kick away and stay on to win.

A simple enough gameplan, executed under a text-book ride from Ben Thompson.

The win brought Rothfire’s connections the added bonus of a ballot free entry into the $1 million QTIS Open Handicap over 1300m on Magic Millions day ... an option which, although things had to be taken one step at a time, was very much in the mind of trainer Robert Heathcote going into the KOTM.
“It was always in my mind that Rothfire would go into the KOTM slightly underdone. I know that might sound crazy but, how can I put it best, he will take benefit from his run in the KOTM.

“I hadn’t done a lot with him and, now that he has won that race, I go to the Magic Millions thinking he will be just about cherry-ripe on the day.

“It is easy, I suppose, to be critical and say that he should have won by more, but, if you wanted to be analytical, he started from the widest barrier ... he carried 60kg ... he was on a tricky, quirky track for the first time ... and Ben (Thompson) came back and said the track was probably too firm for his ideal liking.

“I’m very happy with him.”

“I have to say I was amazed at the amount of people who cam up to me after the race who were genuinely pleased that Rothfire had won. He is a very popular horse ... there is no doubting that.”

Heathcote confirmed that Ben Thompson will retain the ride on Rothfire on Magic Millions day.

“Ben has handled himself with total professionalism all the way through,” said Heathcote, “and even though Nash Rawiller, Tommy Berry, Blake Shinn ... riders who have all ridden Rothfire before might be available ... it is only fair that we leave Ben on.

“He has done a mountain of work on the horse this preparation and it is only fitting that we have Ben on in the QTIS race.”

Rothfire’s KOTM win extended his race record to ten wins and eight places from twenty-eight starts with $3 127 125 banked in prize-money.

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