Sensational Debut for Tale of the Cat Colt

Champion trainer Gai Waterhouse saddled up the two favourites in the Listed ATC Breeders Plate at Randwick on Saturday and they duly filled the quinella. Exciting colt Whittington (2c Tale of the Cat x Maha Chakri, by Beautiful Crown) running away from his Coolmore owned stablemate War, a three-quarter brother-in-blood to champion mare More Joyous. Whittington was the ‘talking horse’ out of the official two year-old trials in Sydney last month when he rattled home to finish a close second and produced that same brand of acceleration in his race day debut. Ridden by Tommy Berry, Whittington jumped well and quickly travelled up to sit just off the leader War and while that colt kicked strongly in the run home, he could not hold off the powerful late surge from the winner. Whittington let down with a sizzling change of gear to dash clear and win the 1000 metre sprint by three lengths from War. "The best thing about him is that once he got to the front he found,” Tommy Berry said. "It is amazing the improvement from his trial. 'He still has to learn a bit in the barriers, he is not 100 percent, but he is better, a lot better. So it was good." Whittington runs in the famed purple and white stars of Star Thoroughbreds and was a $145,000 Magic Millions purchase from the draft of Patinack Farm. He is the second foal of stakes-winning Beautiful Crown mare Maha Chakri, who won the Listed Tasmanian Oaks. Whittington is the 78th stakes-winner worldwide for high class shuttle sire Tale of the Cat, whose last Australian bred yearlings will be offered at sales next year.