Today sees the departure of our touring party for the Laurel Oak/Tony Noonan Racing Tour to Royal Ascot and The Irish Derby. This year marks our fourth venture to Royal Ascot, and third to the Irish Derby, and you can tell by the number of times we have returned, these tours are not to be missed. This year’s tour promises to be very special, and unique, with Australia, and the World’s, wonder mare, BLACK CAVIAR, already in England preparing for another record breaking feat. While “the great one’s” presence is enough, we will also be on course to see horses such as Frankel, So You Think, Camelot and Ortensia racing, and we cannot wait to be apart of it. Like all our tours, our main focus is on racing, but there is also a mixture of sightseeing, high class dining and accommodation to make our trip comfortable and memorable. Go Black Caviar!!
Dab Touch returned from a freshen up with a strong placing at Canberra this afternoon. An awkward barrier meant he had to go back from the jump and, after settling well in the run, Dab Touch hit the line solidly to finish second. Trainer Keith Dryden seems to have found the key to Dab Touch and he will be kept fresh and a win is not too far away.
Today saw Certain Glory step out at Goulburn for the first time, under the care of her new trainer, Keith Dryden. Certain Glory had been working well leading into the event and had connections confident of a successful result. An awkward barrier saw Certain Glory travel wide throughout the entire race. Entering the straight, she still move into the race menacingly and went to the lead passing the 100m. The wide run took its toll in the end when she was nailed on the line by a runner from the Gary Portelli yard. While a win would have been nice, Certain Glory ran very well, and if we had to be beaten, we were glad it was by one of our Laurel Oak trainer’s.
Flying Spur gelding, Flying Bentley, broke his maiden status in fine style at Canberra this afternoon.
Flying Bentley began well but was in an awkward position early, before jockey Kevin Sweeney was able to slot in one off the rails three pairs back, and Flying Bentley travelled well.
Approaching the turn, Kevin gave the big chestnut room, and he moved into the race entering the straight and looked a danger.
In the straight, Flying Bentley, gradually wore down the leaders and came away for a convincing win despite not recording a huge winning margin.
Flying Bentley has had an interrupted career due to a serious leg injury that required a long rest in the paddock. We hope that the patience his owners have shown will now start to be repaid the further he heads into the preparation.
Laurel Oak and the all conquering Peter Moodystable combined at Cranbourne this afternoon to take out the 1400m 2yo Maiden with Holy Roman Emperor gelding Swift Succession.
Ridden well by Noel Callow, Swift Succession, dictated terms throughout the race and despite being challenged down the straight he fought back to win by the barest of margins. Thanks to the vigorous riding of Noel Callow!!
Swift Succession has shown above average ability at home but his immaturity has kept him from showing that ability on raceday.
Today’s win capped off a terrific preparation from Swift Succession which resulted in a win and a second from 3 outings.
This gelding has shown tremendous improvement with each raceday outing and with a break under his belt we are confident he will continue to improve. He is one to follow.
Vilakazi Street showed he is “Mr Consistency” when he put up a mighty effort, but came up one short, in this afternoon’s Wagga Town Plate, finishing second to classy Melbourne sprinter, Andamon.
Yet again, a fruitful barrier gave Vilakazi Street the perfect run in transit, and after sitting midfield off a cracking speed, he was able to rail up entering the straight and was in a challenging position.
Passing the 300m Kevin Sweeney switched Vilakazi Street across the leader’s heels, took the lead, and looked set for victory.
Unfortunately, the race tempo meant the swoopers were coming late but only one was fast enough to go past Vilakazi Street in the shadows of the post.
It was a gallant effort from Vilakazi Street and took his preparation record to 7 starts for 3 wins and 4 placings and amassed prizemoney of $96,500.
In fact his preparation sequence has been 2-1-2-1-2-1-2, and the post race advice to trainer, Keith Dryden, was to find another race because a victory was certain.
The next victory, however, will have to be next preparation, as Vilakazi Street will now head for a very well deserved spell. His form this preparation has well and truly cemented him as a metropolitan Saturday class sprinter and his connections are very excited about the months ahead.