Peter Snowden’s Grand Prairie claimed a breakthrough in the Group 3 Up And Coming Stakes, but celebrations were muted following a frightening fall that marred the Randwick feature.
Approaching the 300m, James McDonald on Providence and Tom Sherry aboard Grand Prairie both angled for the same gap as Crown The King shifted out and Aerodrome rolled in. In the heavy scrimmage, Providence was forced back inside and cannoned into Tyreek, dislodging Dylan Gibbons who was sent crashing through the rail.
Thankfully, Gibbons walked away with no serious injuries, returning to the jockeys’ room, while Tyreek was transported to Randwick Equine Centre with a leg issue.
Snowden said he was relieved with Grand Prairie’s victory but tempered his joy. “He’s done a good job and he deserved a nice race,” he said. “I’m glad he’s won. It was just unfortunate with the incident today. He has been racing well and he relaxed super, which was great, and he was good at the end which was good to see. It’s a good result.”
Winkers were removed from Grand Prairie’s gear to assist him settling at his first try beyond 1200m, a move that proved effective. Snowden said the colt’s spring plans, which could include the Golden Rose, were still undecided. “I will have to think about that. Naturally if he ran well today I would think about the Golden Rose for him but I just need to see how he’s pulled up and see how things are. He is very genuine and he ran the 1300 right out today which was good to see.”
Stewards opened an inquiry into the fall but had yet to conclude their findings.