Date posted October 16, 2009 | Posted by Michele Cullen | Filed under
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Racing and BreedingNew Zealand’s Caulfield Cup raider Daffodil (No Excuse Needed ex Spring by O’Reilly) added a notable new member to her support crew this week.
A sister to the classy triple Group 1 winning mare was born at Waikato Stud on Wednesday night.
Armed with victories in the Group 1 New Zealand 1000 Guineas (1600m), the Group 1 AJC Oaks (2400m) and the Group 1 Windsor Park Plate (1600m), Daffodil has arrived in Melbourne and she has settled in well at her Flemington base.
Daffodil winning the G1 AJC Oaks
Daffodil’s work since her arrival at Flemington has pleased trainer Kevin Gray and with a drop of rain overnight the ground at Caulfield won’t be as firm as it was for the two Guineas cards.
The mare’s owner, Gary Chittick, made an appearance at Flemington on Friday morning and after drawing barrier four in the 18 strong race punters appear to agree with the New Zealand team keeping the bay very ’safe’. In some markets she’s equal favourite with Cima De Triomphe (Galileo - Sopran Londa by Danehill) and Predatory Pricer (Street Cry - Shady Stream by Archregent). Daffodil will more than likely start from barrier three in the 2400m race, with third emergency Newport drawing the inside gate.
Chittick said after the draw, “I just hoped for somewhere in midfield. I wouldn’t like to be out wide.”
In making her Caulfield Cup attempt, Daffodil will seek to become the first mare to win the event since Ethereal in 2001 and could follow a similar path to the Melbourne Cup, all going well.
Beyond sex, obvious parallels between the two mares also exist with respect to age and their previous Australia-based Oaks success.
Both aged four at the time of the Caulfield Cup attempt, Ethereal and Daffodil each claimed Oaks success in Australia the season prior, with the former winning the Gr.1 Queensland Oaks and the latter, the AJC Oaks.
Carrying 1.5kg’s more than Ethereal did, Daffodil will carry 51.5 kgs and has Chris Munce in the saddle.
