Swift Ruler completed a Belmont hat-trick spanning the old and new seasons on Saturday and he could well be the genuine article for trainer Adam Durrant.
Racing first-up after a three-month spell, the Scenic Lodge-bred 3yo didn’t go around a horse in the MC Polytrack Plate (1200m) and kept lifting along the rails for Willie Pike to ensure there were no excuses for the beaten division.
Swift Ruler (Universal Ruler) defeated Yamanex (Splintex) and Grey Ol’ Day (Snippetson) prompting Durrant to signal a possible interstate campaign this prep. “We like him and to do that over 1200m is the sign of a very good horse. We would have been happy – win, lose or draw – as long as he ran through the line.
“He’s been very good at home and he brought that to the races today. I thought he would be in the three or four-wide line going through the gears but Willie stayed on the fence and then sent him through the gap.
“We won’t be getting carried away. There’s a 1400m race in a fortnight and then we will decide whether to have a serious crack in the Eastern States.”
Saturday’s result propelled Universal Ruler to second-spot on the 2026-27 WA Sires’ leaderboard on Saturday night behind table-topper Playing God ($797k).
The Scenic Lodge resident has sired 10 individual winners since August 1 and Swift Ruler’s Westspeed Bonus will send his sire’s earnings through $500k.
Universal Ruler, 22, is restricted to limited books at Scenic Lodge and his latest foals include a filly out of Adore Me (Choisir) and a colt from Zero Emission (Demerit) that were featured in the TBWA Foal Galleries on August 12 and 27.
Swift Ruler pictured as a foal in February 2024
Swift Ruler is raced by Oakland Park’s Neville and Susan Duncan in partnership with Durrant and the Sangalli Brothers. His dam Fast As The Wind (Blackfriars) is a full sister to G1 ATC Metropolitan (2400m) winner Come Play With Me and their dam Russian Playmate (Dr Johnston) was a Listed winner of the Starstruck and La Trice Classics in 2008.
“Swift Ruler was an outstanding type of foal,” Scenic Lodge’s Jeremy Smith remembered. “Neville purchased him at our online dispersal sale when Dad (David Smith) retired and sold his horses in 2024.”
It was a $16,000 package that included Fast As The Wind and her foal at foot (Swift Ruler). She was also carrying a PPT to Universal Ruler. That positive is now an unraced 2yo colt named Hurricane Force with Dan Morton. Fast As The Wind also has a yearling filly – her sixth foal in six seasons at stud – by Yarradale sire Shooting To Win and her latest cover in October 2025 was by Oakland Park resident Ingratiating.
