GRIMA'S RISE THE STUFF OF LEGEND

BY Shayne O’Cass

Not when it comes to Siena Grima at least.

Sydney’s most talked about apprentice was at Royal Randwick yesterday with rides in all but one of the 10 races.

After such a busy day, Grima was owed a lazy Sunday but instead will undertake a 10 hour round trip from Sydney to Gilgandra for the town’s annual Cup and Town Plate meeting.

Once again, as it was at Randwick, Grima has rides in all bar one of the eight races on the card.

But Grima’s presence at Gilgandra may not have eventuated if it weren’t for the Town Plate candidate Enterprise Legend and his trainer Holly Williams. 

That, coupled with the ‘permission granted’ from Grima’s ‘boss’ Chris Waller and mentor Darren Beadman.

“The owners were really keen to keep Siena on and we begged Chris and Darren to let her come so they caved in and let her come for the day and she is pretty excited to stick with (the horse),” Williams said.

For the record, Grima has ridden Enterprise Legend five times for three wins.

Grima’s most recent ride on the son of Capitalist was on October 26 when together they snared the Coonabarabran Sprint, running their eight rivals off their collected legs to win the 1100m feature in a slick 1:01.30 seconds.

A ‘break’ from racing and a recent trial win at home at Tamworth is the perfect lead-up for the Tamworth-housed galloper who is chasing his eighth career win.

“We’ve eyed-off this race for a long time,” Williams explained.

“He really enjoys his runs being spaced out so that’s the trick to him I think, just keep him nice and fresh and he always performs well.

“He is pretty straightforward. He bounces out and he musters really quick. He is pretty quick.”

Enterprise Legend has raced 22 times since Williams purchased the former Queenslander, online for just $4,000 in November 2023.

The now six-year-old has been ridden by female jockeys at all except one of those 22 starts.

“He is definitely a ‘girls horse’.” Williams said.

“Even if I put a boy on him in trackwork, he just hates it, he just won’t go.

“He’s a bit of a funny horse; you wouldn’t buy him off his trackwork. He is pretty lazy actually but he is a different horse on race day.”

Grima, who boasts a phenomenally high winning strike at Gilgandra of 27.3 per cent, has been on a stunning trajectory in her short career.

Her first runner, and winner, came on the same day only a mere two years ago this January 27th, on the Deepwater Cup undercard.