My Redeemer's 'Up Hill' Rise

VICTORIAN excitement machine My Redeemer emulated the Group 1-winning exploits of his superstar half-sister Up Hill Jill with a barnstorming victory in the Harrison-Dawson at Sandown Park last Thursday night.

Up Hill Jill gave Lara-based owner/trainer/breeder Dave Geall and wife Rose their first taste of Group 1 glory, winning two of the great races on the Australian calendar, the Topgun and Golden Easter Egg.
"Up Hill Jill is the sort of dog that only comes along once every 20 years," Dave Geall said.
"You don't think you'll ever get another one but then My Redeemer turns up straight away.
"My Redeemer broke in very fast. He's one of the fastest Kevin McNamara has ever had and that's saying something because Kevin has been doing it for 50-odd years.
"Up Hill Jill only broke in fair. She went 18.33 at McNamara's and My Redeemer went 17.55. There were huge expectations of the dog when he broke in so fast and now those expectations have been vindicated."
My Redeemer, an April '16 son of the all-conquering Fernando Bale, winner of the Harrison-Dawson in 2015, and Where's Demonica, came into the $100,000 to-the-winner male-only feature having won six of his previous seven starts.
However, his form was even better than it appeared on paper, with his only recent ‘defeat' being a deceptive third in the Group 3 Bill Collins Memorial Speed Star series where he beat last Thursday's Group 1 Sapphire Crown heroine Elevated in his match race.
My Redeemer won his Harrison-Dawson heat in 29.37 and after drawing box one for the final he started $2.30 favourite ahead of Australian Cup winner Hecton Bale at $5.20.
My Redeemer settled in third place, behind Bernardo ($8.10) and Zipping Captain ($40.80), and was still third turning for home, but he stormed home to grab Bernardo in the shadows of the post, scoring by half a length in 29.36, his 12th win from 23 starts.
"He's always been fast but the last month he's really stepped up and he's showing more pace," Geall offered.
"He's gone from 5.15 at Sandown down to 5.05 and that's been the difference. We're calling it eight in a row because his third in the Speed Star was a Clayton's third. It's the third you have when you don't run third!
"Box one was where we wanted to be. A lot of people think he's better in six or middle to outside because he's won so many races from there but we were confident box one gave us our best chance of winning and we thought he had a very good chance.
"When the blue (Bernardo) came across it pushed a few into him and he seemed to get turned side-on. We know he's very strong and when he was running third down the back normally I would be very confident but I wasn't, because I thought he might've had the wind knocked out of him.
"I was hoping he would keep going and run third but he finished so hard. He rocketed home.
"It was a huge honour to win the race. My Redeemer's sire Fernando Bale won the race and I think it's going to get bigger and bigger. Sandown is such a great club with a lot of history and Geoff Dawson and the late Henry Harrison are two great stalwarts of the sport."
The Fernando Bale litter is Where's Demonica's last, with the daughter of Where's Pedro and Demonica having passed away six months ago, and Geall also trains Fernando Drums (nine from 26), Emerald Rainbow (seven from 18) and Striker Vardy (five from 14).
Up Hill Jill ran second in the Sapphire Crown in 2017 but the February '15 daughter of Premier Fantasy and Where's Demonica was denied the chance to make amends when she was scratched from the Sapphire heats with a cracked metatarsal.
"She'll be out for another two weeks and then we'll get her x-rayed again," Geall explained.
"We'll bring her back hopefully for the Nationals. We've got a straw to Fernando Bale that we'll be using with Up Hill Jill because of My Redeemer. The plan is to breed with her after Christmas but she'll probably only have eight more starts if she makes finals."
My Redeemer will now head to Sydney for Saturday night's heats of the Group 1 Peter Mosman Classic, striving to go one better than Up Hill Jill, which finished runner-up to Mister Twister in 2017.
My Redeemer has drawn box two in the second of four Peter Mosman heats, where he'll clash with another Victorian-trained son of 2015 Peter Mosman hero Fernando Bale in Darren's Brown's rails runner Chief's Sidekick, the winner of eight from 17.
"The Peter Mosman wasn't originally on the radar because we believe you've got to go to Wenty with dogs that have genuine early pace but over the last month My Redeemer has quickened up early," Geall said.
"He ran 29.96 at Wentworth Park the night Raw Ability (29.86) won the Paws Of Thunder and Raw Ability only went about two lengths quicker than us. He blew the start there on Easter Egg night but there's no doubt he's a better dog now."