Accomplished galloper War Eternal scored the fifth win of his career and took his earnings past $750,000 with a determined victory at Rosehill on Saturday.
The $200,000 race was the third start in a new campaign for the New Zealand-bred Pierro gelding, who finished eighth over 1300m at Rosehill on July 19 before a second placing over the same course and distance on August 2.
Ridden by Jason Collett on Saturday for fellow expat New Zealander Bjorn Baker, War Eternal had a comfortable midfield run in sixth until the home turn.
Collett found clear air midway down the straight as runners fanned out across the track, and he drove War Eternal through to edge out Birdman and the strong-finishing stayer Land Legend.
“Jason gave him a lovely ride,” Baker’s racing manager Luke Hilton said. “He needed the breaks to come when they did, but he took advantage of it and raced away really well.
“He’s a seven-year-old, so he is probably at the top of his game at the moment. There might be a Listed stakes race we might be able to find while he is racing in this good form. We will just keep chipping away while these tracks have got a little bit of juice in them.”
War Eternal has now had 27 starts for five wins, seven placings and $755,425 in stakes. Three of those five wins have come since June of last year.
War Eternal had previously performed to a high level as a three-year-old during the 2021-22 season, when he finished second in the Group 3 Spring Stakes (1600m), third in the Group 2 Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) and fourth in Converge’s Group 1 Randwick Guineas (1600m).
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