Krone lands Coolmore Classic becoming the first Group 1 winner for Tony Gollan in Sydney since 2012

Talented mare Krone (5 m ex Soft Landing by Al Maher) broke through at Group 1 level for the first time on Saturday when she took out the Coolmore Classic (Gr 1, 1500m) at Rosehill and in the process became the first top-flight winner for her sire Eurozone (Northern Meteor). 

The Tony Gollan-trained Krone was confidently ridden from barrier one by Tim Clark and the jockey was able to conserve energy until well into the straight before easing into the clear to unleash her sprint and beat Mizzy (Zoustar) by a length and a quarter. This was the daughter of Zoustar’s (Northern Meteor) second consecutive second place finish in a Group 1 in seven days, having occupied that same place behind Savatiano (Street Cry) in the Canterbury Stakes (Gr 1, 1300m) last Saturday. 

Dame Giselle (I Am Invincible) was another half a length away in third. 

It was the third straight feature win for Krone following successes in the Magic Millions Fillies & Mares Plate (1300m) on the Gold Coast in January and the Guy Walter Stakes (Gr 2, 1400m) at Randwick last month. The mare's total prize-money earnings now stand at $1,427,650. 

The mare’s victory handed Gollan his first Group 1 success since 2014 and his first in Sydney since Temple Of Boom (Piccolo) won the Galaxy Handicap (Gr 1, 1100m) in 2012.

"It's been a long time in between drinks for me, the last one when the two boys (Spirit Of Boom and Temple Of Boom) quinella-ed the (Doomben) 10,000 back in 2014.

"My first one was 2012 at Randwick so it's fantastic to be back in Sydney, I guess where it all started for Group 1's, and get another one with a mare.”

"From the 600 metre mark when she just started to suck up underneath them, when he cut the corner beautifully, and once the run presented she was really just too good,'' Gollan said.

"She's gone up a lot in weight to 57kg today and on an unsuitable Good 3 and she's still done the job, so it's fantastic.

"It's really satisfying, I must admit I was a lot more confident earlier in the week when it looked like we were going to get a wet track.

"When it didn't eventuate I was really kicking stones this morning leaving Brisbane to come back down here. I really thought it was going to be hard for her on the firm ground, but I always had barrier one up my sleeve and she was always going to need a lot of luck ridden that way to win."

Gollan said the mare could run in the Coolmore Legacy (Gr 1, 1600m) at Randwick on April 10. 

"We've still got a Coolmore Legacy during The Championships, a Group 1 mile. I don't know, we'll just go home and see what they all want to do and see how she pulls up."

Bred by Bell View Park Stud and Foote Street Investments, Krone was bought by Rae-Louise Charlton for $30,000 from the Bell View Park draft at the 2016 Magic Millions National Weanling Sale, before being sold to Rosemont Stud for $60,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale in 2017. Later on in the year, the mare was purchased by her owners Roll The Dice Racing for $120,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast 2YO in Training Sale. 

The mare is one of two winners out of the once raced Al Maher (Danehill) mare Soft Landing, who is herself a half-sister to multiple Group 1 winner Universal Prince (Scenic) and fellow elite level winner Universal Queen (Scenic). 

Further back this is the same pedigree as Group 3 winner Think It Over (So You Think) and Listed-winning duo Lucy Mae (Stratum) and Averau (Stratum). 

Formerly standing at Newgate Farm, Eurozone now resides at Bellereve Stud, where his fee was advertised as $5,500 (inc GST) in 2020.