Aegon gave young training star Andrew Forsman one of the most emotional wins of his career with a freakish Australian debut on Saturday to cap a golden hour for New Zealand racing.
The Cambridge galloper overcame a tardy start to thrash most of Sydney's elite three-year-olds in the A$400,000 HobartvilleStakes at Rosehill just an hour after Matamata mare Probabeel was dazzling in the A$500,000 Futurity at Caulfield.
Probabeel was stunning after sitting three wide the entire race and striding clear at the top of the straight to hold out Arcadia Queen, with the pair now dominating the market for the A$5 million All-Star Mile at The Valley in three weeks.
It was a career-best win from Probabeel but as wonderful as she was her victory came as no surprise to racing fans on either side of the Tasman as she continues her march to becoming a great mare.
If she draws a decent gate for the All-Star at The Valley on March 13 she can provide another young Kiwi training star in Jamie Richards with the richest win ever by a New Zealand-trained thoroughbred on Australian soil.
But it was Aegon who will have surprised more than a few Aussies as he didn't just beat their Guineas contenders, he gave them a start and spanked them.
Trainer Forsman also shares in the ownership of Aegon and while he and training partner Murray Baker are used to winning elite level races for other people, to conquer Sydney with one of his own horses was another thing all together.
"I don't think I have been that emotional after a race for a while," said Forsman.
"I actually watched the race on my phone pulled over on the side of the road driving home from Ellerslie.
"I got quite emotional so I'm kind of glad I was by myself."
Aegon is owned by the Zame family for who Forsman and Baker won the ATC Derby with Jon Snow and while he may be able to win the classic in April, Forsman admits the Doncaster against the older horses over a mile might suit better.
The win capped a huge day for the Baker/Forsman team after they won the Avondale Cup at Ellerslie with Robusto, in which they also finished third with Star Tsar, both now heading to the Auckland Cup on March 13.
The other feature at Ellerslie, the $120,000 Avondale Guineas, was taken out by favourite Rocket Spade, who like many in the race heads to the Vodafone Derby on March 6 next.
