SO UNITED – THE MIDDLE LEG OF A BIG MAGIC MILLIONS TREBLE FOR THE WATERHOUSE / BOTT STABLE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, January 13, 2024

First out of the gates ... first home, that was the story of So United’s win in the $1 million Magic Millions Subzero.

Not that it was that simple for the So You Think gelding who made it back-to-back wins after saluting over 1800m at Randwick in the start leading in the his Magic Millions assignment.

Not for the first time, So United was given a progressive preparation distance-wise, going from 1550m first-up to 1800 to his more preferred 2200m of the Subzero contest ... a program designed to bring So United to his peak on the big day.

Peak he did, and he needed every ounce of his fitness to get the job done, needless to say with every assistance from Tim Clark in the saddle, who rated So United perfectly throughout.

With hooves of a large number of runners pounding behind him as So United came to the turn, Clark gave his mount more rein and he quickly re-established a two length lead at which time So United looked to have his field well and truly beaten ... but Parry Sound, still well back and out wide at that stage, was not about to concede defeat and he started to close ground on So Limited with meaning ... so much so that the result came down to just 0.20 lengths at the line, still in favour of So United.

WINNER FEEDBACK:

Co-trainer Adrain Bott: “He really was brave. It was nice to see him get his head down, because the runs were certainly coming out wide. Initially, I thought he’d done enough to keep it, but then he was very brave to hang on and fight the as he did ... and, once again, it was Tim Clark at his best out in front.”

Jockey Tim Clark: “I thought I might have held on. He was really brave. He worked a little bit into that first corner, but then he got into a nice rhythm. Having said that, on the back stretch the wind was quite strong, so he had to carve out his own sectionals into the wind ... but, as I said, he was very brave for me late. His preparation has been timed beautifully by Gai and Adrian and got the result on the day.”

So United, a $190 000 purchase, is owned by Blueblood Thoroughbreds, B B T Maglissa No.2, Mrs D A Loreto, Mr S H Ly, KingsToQueens Racing, Mr V G Harink, Mr DJ Price, Mr P Crossley, Mr J Zammit, Mr T C Delahunty, Wonder What They're Doing Racing, Mr J Hicks, Mr A Singh, Heritage Racing, Mr J Morris.

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