New Zealand import Firestorm made a perfect start to her four-year-old season with a strong-finishing success in Saturday’s A$160,000 NSW Thoroughbred Breeders Handicap (1500m) at Rosehill.
The Benchmark 78 event was the third win of a 14-race career for Firestorm, who had previously shown promise in feature age-group company on both sides of the Tasman.
The daughter of Satono Aladdin began her career in the Cambridge stable of Paul Mirabelli, for whom she won on debut in January of 2023 before running sixth in the Gr.3 Taranaki 2YO Classic (1200m), eighth in the Gr.3 Soliloquy Stakes (1400m) and sixth in the Gr.1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m). In the latter event, she produced an eye-catching late finish to get within four lengths of the winner Molly Bloom.
Subsequently sold into the all-conquering stable of Chris Waller, Firestorm won on the Kensington track in March and went on to finish fourth in the Gr.3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m), third in the Listed Princess Stakes (1600m), third in the Gr.3 Drinkwise Mile (1600m) and midfield in the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks (2200m).
Waller gave Firestorm two trials leading into Saturday's resuming run, and the bay mare produced a first-up performance that suggested there could be further black-type impact to come.
Apprentice jockey Ben Osmond settled Firestorm near the back of a strung-out field down the back of the Rosehill track, then hooked her out to the outside to launch her run 300m from the finish.
Firestorm changed gears and powered home out wide on the track, getting up to win by half a length from the fellow Kiwi-bred mare Chica Mojito. The third-placed Mare Of Mt Buller completed a remarkable trifecta for Waller, with all of that trio being four-year-old mares who competed in Queensland as winter three-year-olds.
"It's a terrific result," Waller's assistant trainer Charlie Duckworth said. "The horses have all run right up to their merits.
"The winner was really good. We might have ended up a bit further back than we would have liked, but she really rallied late.
"I'm delighted for the owners, the Ritchies. They've invested quite heavily in our stable and haven't had the best of luck, particularly with this filly. She had a chequered path into the Queensland Oaks, which was the race we bought her for. She was either drawn too wide or balloted out of various lead-up races, so she missed out on having a full crack at Group One level in that race. She seems to have come back very well as a four-year-old, so hopefully she can go on to measure up in black-type company this season."
Firestorm was bred and originally owned by Carl Ferguson. She is one of three winners from five foals to race out of the Istidaad mare Dancing Embers , who herself won three races and placed in the Listed Metropolitan Trophy (2500m) at Riccarton.
