Tuvalu proved a cut above his rivals when he galloped to an impressive victory in the Listed VRC-CRV Winter Championship at Flemington on Saturday and in doing so provided underrated sire Kermadec with his fourth stakes winner.
A $200,000 purchase for his trainer Lindsey Smith and Boomer Bloodstock from his breeders Merricks Station at the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale in 2019, Tuvalu is out of the placed Exceed And Excel mare Hangin’ Tough and hails from the well-known Darley family of Group 1-winning pair Helmet and Epaulette.
Lindsey Smith was bullish about the chances of the 4-year-old gelding following his victory at headquarters on June 18 and he lived up to his trainer’s lofty expectations when he sauntered to a facile 2l victory over Sir Davy. The winner’s stablemate Mystery Shot was a further 1.3l adrift in third.
It was Smith’s second win in the Winter Championship Final following the success of Reykjavik in 2019 and assistant trainer Shane Jackson rated Tuvalu a class above the stable’s previous winner.
“This fella is a better horse than Reyjkavik,” said Jackson. “Lindsey is a very good judge and from day one we thought he was a good horse.
“It’s a credit to Lindsey and the great team we’ve got at home. We’ve only a small team but we do a pretty good job with the small team that we have to play on these days.
Jackson was not being drawn into making race-day plans and said he would be leaving future targets up to the trainer.
“I’ll leave that to the brains of the operation, Lindsey, who will be sitting at home making a plan, but I do know that he’ll go for a rest now,” Jackson said.
