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Snowden closing in on Gai in title race

Thursday 2 July 2009
By Russell Jackson

Peter Snowden thought Darley might have set the bar beyond his reach when he started out with Sheikh Mohammed's thoroughbred empire - but he was wrong.

Snowden is on the verge of achieving his goal of winning the Sydney trainers' premiership and goes into Saturday's Rosehill meeting just 2-1/2 wins behind leader Gai Waterhouse.

The Warwick Farm horseman is in his first full season in charge of the Darley team which he took over in late 2007 after the Ingham family sold the Woodlands racing and breeding interests to Sheikh Mohammed.

"At the start Darley set a goal of five Group Ones and a Sydney premiership and I thought that might have been a bit ambitious but here we are, we've achieved one part and we're close to achieving the second," Snowden said.

Snowden, a long-time employee of the Ingham family and foreman to John Hawkes, has 10 acceptors for Rosehill including two runners - Gergis and Cocoruru - in Saturday's feature, the Listed Civic Stakes (1400m).

Waterhouse, who is holidaying in Europe, has just one runner, Fusakeo, who lines-up in the Bells At Killcare Handicap (1350m), a race in which Snowden has three acceptors - Tollemache, Sangfroid and Deutsche.

"It's been a personal goal and I'd love to win it (the premiership)," Snowden said.

"But you can't make it happen. We just need to keep doing the things we've been doing that got us to this point and there's plenty more hard work ahead of us."

Snowden said Gergis and Cocoruru were both in good order going into the Civic Stakes.

Gergis is coming off a sixth to Prince Braeman at Rosehill on June 13 while Cocoruru has not raced since his fifth to Parfumier at Randwick on June 8.

The five-year-old impressed Snowden with a barrier trial win at Rosehill last Friday.

"It looks a very competitive race but they are both as good as we can have them and they will run well," Snowden said.

Snowden said two-year-old Killian was unlikely to run in the opening race of the day, the Sydney City Toyota Handicap (1200m), if the track was too heavy.

"If we get any more rain before race day then he won't run," Snowden said.

Killian, who won on debut at Sandown in January, was unplaced last start at Randwick on a heavy track on June 20.

Sydney Turf Club track manager Lindsay Murphy rated the Rosehill surface a heavy (8) on Thursday and said there was a thunderstorm forecast for Friday.

Sousa gave Snowden his first Group One success for Sheikh Mohammed when he won the Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) by six lengths at Randwick in October.

Stablemates Forensics, Neroli and Purple (twice) landed subsequent Group One wins.

The metropolitan season ends with the Warwick Farm meeting on July 31.