By Paul Symes
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Bridal Waltz (Snitzel) will have to overcome sibling rivalry and defy the weight of recent history when the in-form filly lines up in the final Victorian stakes race of the season, the Bletchingly Stakes (Gr 3, 1200m).
Ahead of acceptances co-trainer Katherine Coleman confirmed the stable’s last-start Creswick Stakes (Listed, 1200m) heroine would take her place in the feature this Saturday, when Bridal Waltz will bid to become only the second filly since the turn of the century to claim the Bletchingly Stakes.
Her likely opponents at Caulfield include stakes-winning half-sister and former stablemate She Dances (Street Boss), who like Bridal Waltz was also bred by the Pope family out of their prolific Lonhro (Octagonal) mare Charleston Dancer.
She Dances was purchased by John Foote Bloodstock on behalf of former co-trainer Peter Moody and syndicator Wylie Dalziel for $180,000 at the 2021 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale, before being acquired for more than four times that figure ($775,000) at this year’s Inglis Chairman’s Sale by David Redvers and Widden Stud, where she will soon commence her breeding career.
The Bletchingly is likely to be her competitive swansong, as the mare bids to sign off with an eighth career win – and a first for new trainer Ciaron Maher – which would carry her career earnings past the $900,000 mark.
In contrast, Bridal Waltz still has plenty of racing ahead of her and, judging by her recent defeat of Maher’s highly-regarded filly She’s An Artist (Trapeze Artist), there is every chance she could one day surpass her elder sibling’s achievements.
Saturday’s race might therefore pose something of a dilemma for the Popes, although given that they own Bridal Waltz outright, the family could be forgiven for putting sentiment firmly to one side and leaning towards their homebred filly from a purely financial perspective.
Responsibility for the day-to-day running of Pope Racing falls on Deanna Pope, whose father Des – a breeding industry stalwart for decades – still takes an active interest in stallion matches as he approaches his 90th birthday.
His advancing years prevent the family patriarch from getting to the races these days and Deanna has committed to a charity event on Saturday afternoon, so she too is unable to be at Caulfield for the sisterly showdown. However, she has vowed to take time out from the function to watch the $200,000 contest, which will bring the curtain down on a prosperous preparation for Bridal Waltz.
“We only breed a handful of horses each year, so it would be pretty amazing to have two siblings lining up in the same stakes race,” Pope told ANZ News en route to the funeral for Peta Tait, the popular stablehand who tragically lost her life when she was kicked in the head by a horse.
“I had a call from someone at Magic Millions the other day to say that Charleston Dancer is now a pretty hot commodity after having stakes winners from her first two foals [she missed in between]. We named the mare in honour of my Mum [Valerie] after she passed away. She always loved to do the Charleston dance and she loved music from that era so it’s been great to honour her memory through our horses.
“We’ll be in the corner of Bridal Waltz on Saturday but if she were to run second to She Dances, that wouldn’t be the worst result in the world. Another stakes win would be another big tick for the mare so I’m sure we would be happy either way. I still get excited when I see Ideas Man, another horse we bred, running at Darwin so it’s probably for the best that I’m not there on Saturday as I might get a little carried away.”
There were certainly jubilant scenes at Flemington a fortnight ago when Bridal Waltz was able to turn the tables on She’s An Artist, who was sent off the raging $1.30 favourite in the Creswick Stakes off the back of her dazzling display at the same venue the previous month.
With Duchess Zou (Zoustar) using her minor placing in the Creswick as the springboard to an impressive victory in the opening contest at Flemington last Saturday, the form from that race has certainly been franked, which explains why Bridal Waltz is contesting early favouritism with Team Corstens’ returning speedster Baraqiel (Snitzel) in the Bletchingly betting markets.
“One of the girls who works for Ciaron messaged me a screenshot of our faces after Bridal Waltz had beaten She’s An Artist, and we all looked shocked,” Pope said.
“We thought she’d run a nice competitive race and finish a bit closer to the other filly, but realistically we didn’t expect to beat her that day. So we were very pleasantly surprised, and then when Duchess Zoe came out and won so well last Saturday, we got a little more confident. She’s been up quite a while now, so Peter wanted to see how she came through her last run. She seemed to bounce out of it so they were happy to go again before sending her for a spell, and fingers crossed she can sign off with another win.”
With her unraced sister and stablemate Eyes Of Blue (Snitzel) showing plenty of early promise ahead of her impending debut, the Pope family’s orange and green colours might still be gracing the winner’s enclosure in the early part of spring, even with Bridal Waltz enjoying a late-winter spell.
Should Eyes Of Blue one day emulate her two sisters’ stakes success, Charleston Dancer’s reputation and residual value would inevitably skyrocket. In light of how much she means to them, however, there is little prospect the family would consider selling their prized asset, who is currently in foal to Darley’s Anamoe (Street Boss).
“Charleston Dancer was a small filly, her only win was over 900-metres at Murray Bridge and that was her limit so unlike her dam [seven-time stakes winner Innovation Girl] she wasn’t much of a racehorse, but so far she’s certainly shown she can produce a good one,” said Pope.
“We sent her to Snitzel because we really wanted to get his bloodlines into the family, which is why we kept Bridal Waltz rather than selling her. Since Snitzel is no longer around we’re obviously really pleased that we sent the mare to him when we did, and because it was during the COVID years they had also reduced his service fee so we got him for a cheaper price as well.
“After Bridal Waltz was born we sent Charleston Dancer back to Snitzel and named the full-sister Eyes Of Blue, because it was the name of one of Mum’s favourite songs. As a foal she was definitely the biggest and strongest of the three sisters, but she’s just taken a bit of time to mature and fill her frame.
“It’s still very early days, but she’s doing everything right so far and the stable has a bit of an opinion of her, so we’re hoping she can keep the mare’s amazing record going. Eyes Of Blue is back in work and will probably make her debut in the early part of spring, so with Bridal Waltz in the paddock it will be exciting to see another filly going round in our colours.
“Charleston Dancer is now in foal to Anamoe, it was a late request and he was pretty full so we were lucky to get in and all being well, we’ll be sending her back to him this season. So there’s a lot to look forward to and we’re just enjoying every minute of the journey right now because, like everyone, we’ve bred some slow ones in the past.”