Showstopper: Donaldson-Aitken’s stable star oozes stakes potential

STAKES options beckon for the Tyler Donaldson-Aitken-trained Welcometotheshow after making it three wins on end at Flemington on 10 January.

The four-year-old stallion gave his Ballarat trainer the thrill of a lifetime by delivering his first winner at Victorian thoroughbred racing headquarters with his first-ever Flemington starter.

It was the perfect follow-up to the son of Showtime and Kind Heart’s city class win at Mornington last month and subsequent win at Cranbourne, also in December.

A $22,000 purchase for Aitken-Donaldson, who is in his first 12 months of training, Welcometotheshow boosted his prize earnings to $249,000 for only 13 starts.

A model of absolute consistency, he has finished outside the top three placings only once in his career for five wins, three seconds and four thirds.

His only unplaced effort produced a close-up fourth at Morphettville at start number eight, when nearly everything that could have gone wrong did, with Welcometotheshow racing greenly early before laying out on the turn and costing himself a shot at victory.

The bargain-buy has near single-handedly provided Donaldson-Aitken with most of the highlights of his short but blossoming training career, including his first-ever winner, his first city success, first Victorian metro win and his first Flemington triumph.

“I’ve been very lucky to have that sort of success with him early,” he said.

“You don’t really turn up to Flemington, with my mother and father there, and expect that.

“I had a couple of (television) interviews before the race and usually that’s bad voodoo – you don’t get up when that happens.

“I can count myself as very lucky.

 

“If I could have a stable full of him, that would be great.

“That’s the biggest challenge as a young trainer, finding the fast ones.”

Donaldson-Aitken can only marvel at Welcometotheshow’s consistency since joining his stable, following two early thirds under his former trainer Kylie Vella.

“His placing percentage is up in the 90s and he’s never really had an easy run either. There’s always been something that has gone wrong,” he said.

“He’s an absolute beast when you look back through his career.

“He’s a rare horse.

“A couple of $130,000 races in a row certainly keeps the wolf from the door.

“Where we go from here, I’m not sure.

“I’ll throw him out in the paddock for a couple of weeks…but the problem is when you turn them out for a spell, sometimes they get too big, too heavy and it’s really hard to get them back.

“He’s happy in himself and the vets are very happy with him physically, so I’ll flick him out for a week or so with another horse, and I’ll keep him ticking over.

“But he just keeps getting better and stronger.”

While some consideration was given to tackling a listed race in Tasmania, Donaldson-Aitken hinted at a stakes race in autumn as one of his in-form galloper’s shorter-term goals.

“He’s given me everything early in my career; it’s pretty fitting that I own him and he was passed in at the (Ready2Run) sales,” he said.

“When he won at Morphettville, I was offered money for him to sell him overseas.

“My partner convinced me to not sell him. She said, ‘You love the horse and what other horses do you have to train at the moment that are going to get you into the city stalls’.

“So I kept hold of him and lucky I did.

“I love the horse. He’s got a great nature to him, I broke him in and I’ve taken him all the way through his education, so I have a real soft spot for him.”

Having steered Welcometotheshow to his last two victories in his only two rides aboard the talented four-year-old, Craig Newitt needs no convincing of his potential.

“He’s not far off a stakes-class horse,” he said with plenty of confidence.

“Being a stallion, he has a very good temperament but was very well placed (at Flemington).

“It was a rinse and repeat of Cranbourne. I was happy to bide my time and ride him for a bit of luck.

“Passing the 300m I had a lap-full of horse and it was just a matter of getting a run.

“The run presented and he and the favourite went together, and he just beat it to the punch.

“He’s got better wins in store.”

With 20 horses currently on his books but only a handful racing, Donaldson-Aitken is eager to secure a breakthrough win for the four-year-old mare Immortal Justice, a potential starter at the Great Western on Cup day this Sunday.

Formerly trained by Mitch Freedman, she has had four starts for Donaldson-Aitken for two placings, including a last-start third at Burrumbeet on New Year’s Day.

“She’s very honest and tries her best…not at the same level as Welcometotheshow, but your bread and butter type you can get a win with in the country,” he said.

“She’s a beautiful horse and it would be great to get a win with her for the owners.

“Dwayne Smith from Superstar Racing is the bloke who encouraged me to get my trainer’s licence and has quite a few horses with me now and is a massive supporter of mine.”