HnR-bred Appeared, by Justify out of Living The Life (IRE), won at first asking in Australia on August 13, running down the favorite Tacitly inside the final 100 metres to take the Jockeys Celebration Day Class 1 & Maiden Plate over 1880 metres at Newcastle. It was his fourth career start, his second win, and his first in Australia. The win also marks a milestone for HnR, the first for the stable’s growing string Down Under. All the sweeter that it came from a homebred.
The Race
Eleven went to post after Faye Runaway and Elite Delight were scratched, on a Good 4 surface with the rail out seven metres. Appeared broke well from barrier 3 under Dylan Gibbons and was settled fourth, deliberately off the fence. The Cristal went forward and set a moderate tempo, holding a length and a half through the back straight, with Tacitly sliding up on the outside to sit second and Powerful Prayer third along the inside.
Turning for home the picture did not favor the visitor. Tacitly was still on the bridle, ranged up to The Cristal and took the lead in the straight. Appeared, one-paced at the 450 and giving every sign of a horse learning a new tempo, looked ready to drop out at the 300.
He did not. He kept grinding, loomed up on the outside of Tacitly at the 150, and got there in the last stride or two. The clock explains it: he came home in 33.87 for the final 600 metres, the fastest closing sectional in the race, in a final time of 1:55.73. The margin was 0.59 lengths. The Cristal held third, 0.9 lengths from the winner. The winner’s share was A$20,550 of the A$42,000 purse.
“He bounced well and I just wanted to keep him off the fence if I could, to give him that rolling position. To his credit, even on that moderate speed, he just relaxed so well. I would have liked to get going early, but bearing in mind the way he was travelling first go over the trip, I just had to try and get a toe into it and help him out as best I could.”
“When they dropped him, a lot of horses can wave the white flag and tail out. The fact he’s got that good will to win, he’s picked himself off the canvas and got there and done that very easy. Once he gets further up into it, he’s got the right attitude to go a long way.”
The result vindicated a change of plan. Darby Racing and Bjorn Baker had been looking at Canterbury before switching to the longer trip around the bigger Newcastle circuit, on the reasoning that a horse bred and schooled for European middle distances would be exposed by a sit-and-sprint contest at his first Australian start.
“He was always going to be vulnerable at his first start here in Australia, adapting to the sit-and-sprint tactics. But I think we got it right there, switching from Canterbury to the 1880 at the big Newcastle track. You can see he just lost his way and looked like he was going to drop out at the 300, but that class kicked in late.”
“I know that’s only a Class 1 event, but considering what he would need to produce first up here, I think there’s still a ton of improvement. He’s still quite green, still wandering around a bit, but at the end it was soft. And it looks like further won’t be a problem.”
Appeared is a Kentucky-bred son of Justify out of HnR’s millionaire and multiple graded stakes winner Living The Life (IRE), and a full brother to HnR-bred stakes winner Living Magic. HnR bred him. Coolmore bought him as a weanling at Fasig-Tipton November for $285,000, then offered him at Saratoga the next year, where Peter Brandt bought in at $600,000. The Coolmore and Brandt partnership sent him to Aidan O’Brien, and he won a 2400-metre maiden at the Curragh last October. Darby Racing acquired him for 120,000 guineas at Tattersalls in the autumn of 2025 and HnR came back in as a part-owner, which is how a horse bred in Woodford County ended up winning on the far side of the world with a piece of him still in the family.
“Big special congratulations to Hank Nothhaft, who bred this horse and has come back into the horse all the way from the USA.”
He is 2-0-1 from four starts now, a winner over 2400 metres in Ireland and 1880 metres in Australia, with both of his connections saying the same thing about the trip. Bjorn Baker has not announced a next start.