T.J. Smith winner has a date in England at Royal Ascot

Moody mare set to follow in the hoofprints of the top horse that the stable has ever had and head to Royal Ascot. 

It might have been a shock to those on the betting sites that Chain Of Lightning saluted in the T.J. Smith Stakes as a $21 roughie but an ambitious trip to Royal Ascot was already in the works for Peter Moody’s sprinting mare. 

Chain Of Lightning won the T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick recently for the training pair of Peter Moody and Katherine Coleman. She was the first Group 1 winner for Coleman since she has had her name added to the licence, with the mare now set for a date with Royal Ascot in June.  

Royal Ascot invitation after T.J. Smith win 

The Randwick win for Chain Of Lightning saw Ascot extend an invitation to her for a race on the fifth and final day of one of the most famous meetings anywhere in the world. It was a surprise on the day with the horse racing bookmakers sending her off at an SP of $21 but she was a fluent winner of one of the most sought after Group 1’s of the season. 
 
It was a solid field that she had behind her at Randwick, primarily her stablemate I Wish I Win in third, with that horse having the first start of his prep on ground that he loves. A Heavy 8 track was suitable for her on the day in a race that the fillies absolutely dominated, filling six of the first seven places. 
 
She has three wins on good ground in 13 starts but it is on softer ground where she has shown her very best form. England in June can come up soft or quick, we all know what the English weather is like but whoever gets the opportunity to buy her at the sales will be hoping that it is a wet summer in Berkshire.  

Sales bound before potential English trip 

The plan was always to send Chain Of Lightning to the Magic Millions broodmare sales but now she goes there with the proviso that she heads to Royal Ascot to take up the invitation that has been given for that meeting by whoever lands her on the day. 
 
Her Group 1 win is going to add a little bit onto her purchase price and that Royal Ascot invitation is going to add a bit more again as her new connections have got a trip of a lifetime offered to them. It is a privilege that is only given to a select few each year and that should mean that the bidding is going to be fierce at Magic Millions.  

Moody has been there before with Black Caviar 

2012 was the year that Peter Moody took Black Caviar for the 1200m contest which at that point was run as the Diamond Jubilee Stakes. That was win 22 of her perfect 25/25 career record, missing the better part of eight months subsequently as she returned home with a couple of muscle tears. 
 
The trainer is as far as the comparison with Black Caviar can really go when it comes to Chain Of Lightning who has nothing like that mare’s class. What she does have, however, is a man who has been there and won that so there is plenty of knowledge in the camp that whoever buys Chain Of Lightning would do well to keep on the right side of.  

Australian horses have a strong record of raiding Royal Ascot down the years and 2024 looks set to see another runner heading north. While Chain Of Lightning might no longer be with Peter Moody come then, we hope that whoever owns her takes up the invitation as part of the deal to buy her.