Missed Opportunity

You could have bought classy colt Prized Icon from the Widden Stud draft at the 2015 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.

Passing in shy of his $300,000 reserve when consigned for sale by Widden Stud, Prized Icon came out and won the Group III ATC Fernhill Handicap at Randwick on Saturday for his breeders Gooree Stud.

The James Cummings trained son of More Than Ready (USA) was third on debut back in the spring to eventual Golden Slipper winner Capitalist in the Listed ATC Breeders Plate and has been placed in every run since.

Consistent without winning, Prized Icon shed maiden status in the 1600 metre feature, travelling strongly near the lead before skipping away to win by two lengths in a dominant display.

“It’s been very satisfying working with this colt. He’s the first horse I have set for the Breeders’ Plate and he ran terrific that day,” said James Cummings.

“He’s had 1400, a mile written all over him from day one. We only nominated about a dozen horses for the Slipper (Golden) and this was one of them.

“We identified him as having a great career as a two-year-old and he’s got a great future.”

Prized Icon has a win and five placings from six starts with prizemoney topping $195,000.

Wining rider Hugh Bowman said Prized Icon still has scope for improvement.

“He’s always been there physically, it’s the mental side of his game where he can improve,” Bowman said.

“He appreciated the trip and got through the ground well. He’s been a model of consistency and got his reward today.”

Prized Icon is a Gooree Stud blue-blood being a sibling to Group III winners Matras and Perfect Moon from stakes-winning Danehill (USA) mare Tropical Affair, who has proven a top class producer.