West Indies bowls over rivals

Former high-priced youngster West Indies ran up to his impressive pedigree at Bairnsdale where he doubled his winning tally.

The Mark Walker-trained son of Fastnet Rock was given a perfect ride by Craig Newitt and rounded off strongly for a comfortable victory over 2200 metres.

Bred by us with the Fastnet Rock Syndicate, West Indies purred along in the trail before he was into the clear at the top of the straight and sailed home for his second win from 11 appearances.

He also finished fourth in the G3 Norman Robinson Stakes and Listed VRC St Leger earlier in the season and was most recently runner-up at Pakenham.

“I rode him (when unplaced) in the VRC Derby and he’s probably been a bit frustrating, but he put the writing on the wall at his last start,” Newitt said.

“He travelled well and had the race won a long way out.”

West Indies was initially purchased out of our draft at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale for A$525,000 by Ciaron Maher and Astute Bloodstock before he was bought by Fortuna at last year’s Inglis Digital October Sale for A$200,000.

He is a son of the Irish-bred Galileo mare Anchovy, whose dam is a half-sister to the Group 1 winners and sires Duke Of Marmalade and Ruler Of The World.

Anchovy has an unraced juvenile by Almanzor who sold for A$125,000 to Dynamic Syndications and Dean Watt Bloodstock at the 2024 Gold Coast Sale.

Trainers Richard and Will Freedman secured the half-sister by Hello Youmzain for A$100,000 in 2025 and the dam produced a colt by our shuttle stallion last season before visiting Profondo.

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