Saturday, May 09, 2015
Dubai: Team Godolphin were forced to endure a frustrating day’s racing in Australia on Saturday, when three of their runners were touched off in close run races.
Knoydart, a consistent performer at the top level over the past two seasons, produced a big effort for jockey James McDonald but was unable to peg back the winner Hot Snitzel in the Group 1 BTC Cup over 1,200m at Doomben Racecourse in Queensland,
Godolphin handler John O’Shea was nonetheless pleased with the five-year-old Darley-bred’s performance and told the stable’s website: “Knoydart produced a huge run to almost catch the winner.
“From his wide gate, he had to circumnavigate the field which was difficult to do today.
“He tried very hard to run down the winner but James McDonald commented that the horse is in the best form of his career and it is hard to disagree.
“It was a fantastic performance.”
Meanwhile, Federal, another product of Darley’s Australian breeding arm, finished second to the Emirates Park No. 2 Syndicate-owned Najoom in the Group 1 Hawkesbury Guineas at Rosehill Gardens Racecourse in Sydney.
Ridden by Sam Clipperton for John O’Shea, the three-year-old son of Medaglia d’Oro, could not match the winner for pace and was beaten by three and three quarter lengths.
O’Shea remarked: “Federal jumped OK and was three-deep with cover in a slowly run race. The leader took a march off him and Federal couldn’t run her down but it was a really good effort.”
O’Shea’s third setback on the day came in the Group 1 South Australian Derby, at Morphettville where Allergic finished a close third to the Grant Williams-trained Delicacy.
O’Shea commented: “It was a great run. The race opened up and Allergic got to the front much sooner than Patrick would have liked and was probably exposed a bit too soon.
“That was not Patrick’s fault; just the way the race panned out, but this was another really good performance from Allergic.
“The horse has come a long way from winning a maiden at Sale to finishing third in a Group One Derby.”
By Leslie Wilson Jr Racing & Special ?Features Writer
Gulf News 2015. All rights reserved.
