Group Double at The Championships for Trapeze Artist
Australia’s leading second crop sire by earnings and winners, Trapeze Artist finished the first day of The Championships at Randwick with a Group race double courtesy of progressive three year-old colt Ducasse, winner of the Group III ATC Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) and talented three year-old filly Facile, who was tenacious in winning the $250,000 Group III ATC PJ Bell Stakes (1200m).
Stakes-placed four times previously, the Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou trained Facile was long overdue for a stakes win and after good efforts at her first two runs back from a spell was fit and ready to fire.
Facile bounded out of the gates to take the lead for Tyler Schiller and stayed there, resisting all challengers to win by a long neck taking her overall record to two wins and four seconds from 10 starts with prizemoney in excess of $460,000.
Facile wins the G3 PJ Bell Stakes, making it a great day for @G1TySchil!@aus_turf_club @GRyanRacing pic.twitter.com/3aM5A2Osel
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) April 6, 2024
“I thought she gave a really good kick up the rise and I was surprised one got that close to her, but she was strong through the line,” said Tyler Schiller.
Bred by the Vieira Group, Facile was a $420,000 purchase for Ryan and Alexiou Racing from the Widden Stud draft at the 2022 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale and Gerald Ryan was always keen on the filly given he trained both her sire Trapeze Artist and her dam I Like It Easy for Bert Vieira and his family.
“I get a lot of satisfaction from that. I trained the mum and the father,” said Gerald Ryan.
“She has always promised a lot and was beaten by a couple of very good fillies in those races at two , then she had the setback of a bone chip.
“I probably trained her too hard in the spring trying to make her run 1400m and then after her run second up she wasn’t 100% happy, so we decided to freshen her up and aim at this race, whack the blinkers on and see how we go!”
Facile runs in the Aquis colours and will be a valuable broodmare in the future as her first four dams are stakes-performers.
She is the first foal of the Vieira family homebred I Like It Easy, a Pierro daughter of stakes-winner Gai’s Choice from the family of stakes-winners Atmospherical, Peron and Group III winner Juan Diva.
I Like It Easy is married to Trapeze Artist and has produced four fillies in a row by him and is back in foal to the champion son of Snitzel once again.
Facile is the third stakes-winner for Trapeze Artist joining Group I MRC Caulfield Guineas winner Griff and Ducasse.
Trapeze Artist has 10 entries for Inglis Easter.
