Ken Casellas | Photo: Hamilton Content Creators
Three-year-old colt Ragazzo Mach, heralded to be a future pacing superstar, is poised to make a successful debut at Gloucester Park when he contests the Retravision 60-Day Price Promise Pace on Friday night.
Prepared by astute trainer Mike Reed and to be driven by his son Mark, the New Zealand-bred Ragazzo Mach has the class to overcome the awkward draw at barrier No. 7 and prove to fast for his nine rivals.
He has not been extended at his two starts in Australia, scoring by big margins over 2185m at Pinjarra earlier this month after winning at seven of his 13 New Zealand outings.
Ragazzo Mach began from the back line and enjoyed an ideal passage, one-out and one-back, before winning by two and a half lengths from Classic Choice on December 6, rating 1.56.4.
Then, a week later he started from the back line, dashed to an early lead and coasted to a three and a half length victory over Ideal Agent, rating 1.54.7 which was just outside the track record of 1.54.6 set by Mista Shark when he defeated Im Lisart and Ideal Tyson on October 31, 2016.
Ragazzo Mach was bought for $60,000 as a yearling by Neville Cleaver, who was inundated with offers early this year. He rejected an offer of $330,000 before selling the colt to Jim and Wilma Giumelli last February when he said: “I ended up getting well north of that.”
Sources in New Zealand say that Ragazzo Mach was sold for between $400,000 and $500,000.
Ragazzo Mach, who sprinted over the final 400m in 26.8sec. when he won the Wairio Cup by two lengths at Winton last December in a track record rate (2min.) for a three-year-old in a 2400m stand, had six starts for the Giumellis in New Zealand for two wins, one second and $41,150 in prizemoney.
At his second last New Zealand appearance, he won the group 2 Southern Supremacy Stakes by five and a half lengths at Invercargill last May in a track record time for 2700m. His last quarter took 26.9sec.
Then, at his final start in New Zealand he had a tough run in the middle stages before finishing a close fourth behind B D Joe in the group 1 Emerald at Cambridge on June 6.