Brilliant performance in front lands Fitzpatrick Plate success for Roy Rogers-trained Strathmore Rose

A breakout performance from Strathmore Rose has helped trainer Roy Rogers claim a third straight Fitzpatrick Plate in Albany on Sunday. Rogers won the $100,000 Albany Racing Club sprint feature after previous success with Echo Effect (2021) and Kia Ora Star (2022). The leading Albany stable had three hopes in this year’s Fitzpatrick Plate but it was the lightly-raced Strathmore Rose that ran her rivals off their feet. Morgs Freeman took up the early running in the $100,000 TABtouch Fitzpatrick Plate (1230m) before jockey Beaux Banovic-Edwards took control with Strathmore Rose. By the 800m mark the five-year-old mare had grabbed the lead and they skipped clear by a couple of lengths at the top of the straight. Banovic-Edwards urged her mount to the line in the concluding stages as a pack of horses finished powerfully. However, Strathmore Rose clung on by a neck, to claim the biggest victory of her career. They edged out the fast-finishing Kohli ($20), prepared by Rebecca Wallrodt, while Oly’s Choice was third across the line before a post-race disqualification. Jockey Natasha Faithfull, weighed in 0.5kg underweight after the running of the race and Oly’s Choice ($11) was disqualified as a result. That promoted $2.30 favourite River Rubicon to third placing for trainer Steve Wolfe while $16 chance Classic Magnus ran well to be fourth officially. Strathmore Rose returned from a spell to win over 1100m in Albany on Boxing Day and won over 1230m for the first time in the big race. “This horse, she sprinted well early and got them off the bit and was fit enough to keep going,” Rogers said. “I do a lot of work on her and the legs told today. “She’s always shown a lot of ability and has taken time to develop. “She was still quite immature early days and had chips removed from her fetlocks as a two-year-old before we even raced her, so she’s come a long way.” Rogers said the $100,000 Mt Barker Sprint (1300m) on January 22 was firmly an option for the daughter of War Chant. “I always thought she could win a race like this,” he said. “Now we just need to place her right, on speed she can probably win at Ascot now. Mt Barker Sprint is not out of the question, the way she jumped and ran.” Rogers heaped praise on Banovic-Edwards for her ride in the feature race and it was part of another big day for his stable. They finished with a treble after the earlier victories of Gift Of The Heart and Trevello. Gift Of The Heart broke his maiden status impressively with Clint Johnston-Porter in the saddle and he also guided Trevello to victory, who sizzled past his rivals to win by three lengths. “We work hard and we deserve it,” Rogers said. “I’ve got over 100 clients and we are doing it for them.”