Racing has taught Riccardo Surace a costly lesson in patience. The Sydney businessman and his son watched years of prize money drain from their racing operation before a recent turnaround put smiles back on their faces. On Saturday, they believe their moment has arrived.
B2B Thoroughbreds approaches the Group 1 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill with Lazzura, a $500,000 daughter of Snitzel who has earned more than $1 million on track yet never tasted victory at the sport's highest level. For the Surace family, a Group 1 win remains unfulfilled ambition—what Riccardo Surace jnr calls their "all-time dream."
"We've never actually had a group 1 win in our colours and that's the all-time dream," Riccardo Surace jnr said. The family has endured "years where we poured money in and got nothing out," he explained, but recent stakes winners Generosity and Hidrix suggest the tough apprenticeship is paying dividends.
Lazzura is favoured at $4.80 in betting, though she faces a significant obstacle. She carries the top weight of 58kg alongside Manaal, an impost no mare has managed to win with since Sunline's 60kg in 2000 and 2002. Four subsequent winners managed 57kg, making the weight a genuine test of class.
That burden hardly fazed trainer Chris Waller. "Those two were Group One winners before they got there, but she has been placed at that level," Waller said of Lazzura. Her record bears him out: fitness gave way late when she resumed in the Group 2 Millie Fox Stakes on February 21, where she conceded 3kg to the winner, and she has since completed a trial in preparation.
B2B Thoroughbreds began modestly. Riccardo Surace's first experience as a racehorse owner came with Star Witness, whose success included multiple Group 1 victories and a campaign at Royal Ascot. That early thrill crystallised into a long-term vision. Over the past year, the family made a difficult business decision: focus turned toward quality over quantity, moving their broodmare band off-farm and reducing numbers to around ten, all now based at Segenhoe Stud. Rising staff, insurance and transport costs prompted the rethink; insurance costs have increased ten-fold in five years.
The strategy appears sound. On Everest Day at Randwick, Panova burst through late to claim the Group 3 Reg Allen Stakes, signalling the pivot toward quality is beginning to deliver. Now Lazzura represents the chance for their first black-type victory in their own silks.
Chris Waller Racing, Mulcaster Bloodstock, and B2B Thoroughbreds hold majority stake in Hidrix after going to $1.7 million to purchase the colt at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale. The two-year-old is set for the Golden Slipper, which follows the week after the Coolmore Classic, offering the Suraces a second realistic avenue to their goal.
The realistic complications remain. Lazzura carries a handicap weight not overcome by a winning mare in 26 years, and the Coolmore Classic field is genuinely competitive. Yet after seasons watching prize money disappear, the Surace family has arrived at a moment where their investment in quality bloodlines and patient horsemanship might finally reward them. Saturday could be the start.