Ken Casellas | Photo: PACEPIX
Capel trainer-reinsman Aiden De Campo is proving to be an excellent judge of breeding and young pacers. He attended the APG Perth yearling sale at Middle Swan in February of last year and purchased colts by Sunshine Beach and Lazarus.
And the 31-year-old De Campo cracked the jackpot when those youngsters named Menemsha and Grevis finished powerfully to give him a wonderful quinella result in the $100,000 Hoist Torque Australia Pearl Classic for two-year-old colts and geldings at Gloucester Park on Friday night.
He drove Menemsha, a $13.10 chance, to victory by a neck from $31 outsider Grevis, who was handled by Trent Wheeler.
This mirrored De Campo’s tremendous feat of training the first three placegetters, The Miki Taker, Floewriter and Rock On Top, in the Pearl Classic in June 2021. He also won the 2015 Pearl Classic when he drove the Jesse Moore-trained Rich Yankee to victory.
Menemsha and Grevis will now be set for further glory when they contest the $215,000 Westbred Classic on September 15 and the $150,000 Golden Slipper a fortnight later.
Menemsha and Grevis each had won only one race before Friday night’s classic, but each had shown excellent promise with several minor placings.
“I have always been confident of Menemsha’s ability, and he has been running good races from unfavourable barriers,” said De Campo. “And now Grevis has finished in the top three in all his seven starts.
“I really liked Menemsha just the way he looked when I went to breeder Trevor Lindsay’s place a couple of weeks before the sale. I thought I could get him a bit cheaper than I did because he was by an unproven stallion (Sunshine Beach). Luckily Dad (Andrew) hit me under the table to keep going (bidding) for him.”
Eventually, De Campo outbid the opposition and paid $47,500 for the colt who now has earned $73,286 from two wins and four placings from nine starts. Menemsha is the fifth foal out of Falcons Gem, who was retired after having three starts as a three-year-old for third, fourth and fifth placings at Pinjarra in August 2011.
Falcons Gem has performed much better at stud and her first foal Bettors Gem raced 40 times for 11 wins, 13 placings and $103,276. And then Bettors Gem’s first foal Swingband has amassed $224,681 from 13 wins and six placings from 25 starts, with his wins including three Group 2 features, the Sales Classic, the Gold Bullion final and the Pearl Classic as a three-year-old last year, as well as the Group 3 Caduceus Club Classic.
De Campo, who has syndicated both Menemsha and Grevis to several enthusiastic stable clients, paid $30,000 for Grevis. “He is only a little horse which is why I got him a bit cheaper,” he said.
The New Zealand-bred Lazarus is a $4.1 million earner whose victories included the Interdominion Championship at Gloucester Park in December 2017 when he beat Chicago Bull, the Chariots Of Fire at Menangle in February 2017, the 2017 Victoria Cup and the 2018 Hunter Cup at Melton.
“Lazarus is probably my favourite horse,” said De Campo. “I also liked Grevis because he was the first foal out of Princess Major, an older half-sister to Rock On The Beach, a colt I trained and drove as a two-year-old two years ago.”
Rock On The Beach had five starts for De Campo for a win and two seconds, including a second to Talks Up A Storm in the Group 1 Sales Classic for colts and geldings.
Waverider, unbeaten at his first four starts, was the $1.26 favourite from the No. 1 barrier in Friday night’s Pearl Classic. He was first into stride but was outpaced by $19 chance Ten To The Dozen, who began brilliantly from barrier seven and burst to the front after 80 metres.
Kyle Symington decided against trailing the speedy Ten To The Dozen, and he moved Waverider into the breeze 250m after the start, enabling Grevis to enjoy the sit behind the pacemaker, while De Campo had Menemsha in an ideal spot in sixth position, one-out and two-back.
Menemsha was still sixth with 400m to travel before De Campo switched him three and four wide and he burst to the front in the final 25m to score by a neck from Grevis, who ran home strongly to finish a half-length in front of Ten To The Dozen, with the final 400m being covered in 28.4sec. The winner rated a smart 1.56.9 over the 2130m, and Waverider wilted to finish ninth.