Melbourne, Vic (Feb 21st, 2010) - Denman continued on his winning way with another ’soft kill’ in the Group 2 D’Urban Stakes at Caulfield as he heads towards the main target of the campaign the Group I Australian Guineas at Flemington. 

Denman’s main danger might come from a filly, by Darley’s young stallion Reset, Set For Fame as she recorded a fantastic win second up from a spell in the Group 2 Angus Armanasco Stakes.

In stark contrast to her previous victory in which Set For Fame led throughout, jockey Luke Nolen let the filly settle back in the field this time. Rounding the home-turn she had many lengths to make up, but as Greg Miles called said “Set For Fame has been set alight”, the Peter Moody-trainee came down the outside of the field to take the race by a long-neck from the Darley-bred Dubai Destination filly Gigas (ex Pinwherry by Selkirk).

Shamardal filly No Evidence Needed (Generosa by Generous) turned in a fine effort in fourth indicating she’s on track for a tilt at the G1 South Australian Oaks in a few weeks’ time.

Highlighting his faith in Set For Fame  Moody had previously stated that he felt she would have won the Group 1 Thousand Guineas in the spring, but suffered a bleeding attack and was forced to spell. Ironically, she relegated last season’s Thousand Guineas winner Irish Lights (Fastnet Rock - Aspen Falls by Hennessy) into third place.  

Moody has indicated that Set For Fame will more than likely head towards the Group 1 Australian Guineas at Flemington where she will take on Lonhro’s Group One winner Denman.

Bred by Victorian Mr Robert Crabtree, the filly is the first foal of the winning Dehere mare Northpoint and was purchased from the Inglis Premier sale for $75,000. This year’s Inglis Premier yearling sale is set to commence on March 1, and amongst 98 other stallions, Reset has a stellar offering of seven yearlings.

Set For Fame has a special spot in the heart of William Inglis’ Victorian Managaing Director, Peter Heagney, as each year he and the Herald Sun’s Rod Nicholson, get together and run a competition for readers of the paper. 

Inglis kindly donate a share in a yearling that includes insurance and training fees for two years.

One of Melbourne’s top ten trainers is given the task of selecting a yearling (Heagney draws a name from a hat) from the Premier sale, and in 2008, Heagney drew Moody’s name, this year Heagney has drawn Mick Price, while Nicholson drew Russell Artis’ name from the many Sun Herald entries.

This year Nicholson will draw the lucky winner from more than 22,000 entries at Inglis open day next Sunday (28th Feb) at 12:45pm.    The competition closes at midnight on Wednesday (24th Feb).

Moody selected Set For Fame from the draft of Fulmen Park - and the rest is history. 

Denman made easy work of his Group 2 win, jumping from an inside gate, the three-year-old colt missed the start slightly before working his way through the field to take up the running.

The result never looked in doubt again, at any stage of the race, and when Kerrin McEvoy asked Denman for an effort he responded and nothing could match him .  In fact, the race was a track gallop for the near black colt, and Denman was eased down for a three-and-a-quarter-length win.

Trained by Darley’s principal man in Australia, Peter Snowden,  last season’s Group 1 Golden Rose winner is unbeaten sofar this campaign and, like Set For Fame, he will head into the Group 1 Australian Crown Guineas over 1600m at Flemington on March 6th. 

“I’ve done my job with him now,” Snowden said. 

 “He’s just about there. He’ll just take a little bit of improvement from this but he’s pretty much ready to go for the Guineas.”

Bred by Woodlands Stud, Denman is the third Stakes winner from the Vain mare Peach, along with his Canny Lad half-relations, Preserve and Rio Osa. Peach has a yearling colt by Lonhro and is also currently in foal to the 11-time Group One winner and Horse of the Year.

Fans of Lonhro’s stock will be able to go to the William Inglis Premier yearling sale (March 1-4) and the Inglis Easter sale (April 6-8) where 13 yearlings by him have been catalogued for sale at both venues. 

Splitting Lonhro and Reset on the third-season sires’ table is Champion Group One-winning sprinter Exceed And Excel, who also struck at stakes level on Saturday with the lightly-raced filly Hooness.

Lining up after her poor effort at Ballarat when she tired at her first run back this campaign at Morphettville Parks on Saturday Hooness showed a great turn of speed to record her third career victory by a length-and-a-quarter in the Listed Redelva Stakes (1000m) in Adelaide.

Bred by the Western Australian based Wylie Group, Hooness was a $42,000 Inglis Breeze Up purchase by her trainer Jason Petch and in claiming the valuable black type she gave her dam Spectrum’s Image (by Spectrum) her first stakes winner, and took her earnings past $97,000. 

Hooness held off Luce Del Mare (Fastnet Rock - Cosmic Strike by Made of Gold) with Happy Hippy (Shamardal ex Springburn by Soviet Lad) another three-quarters of-a-length away in third. 

Exceed And Excel is another of Darley stallion that will be well represented at the William Inglis Premier yearling sale (March 1-4) with 13 yearlings by him on offer at the Oaklands complex and at the  Easter sale (April 6-8) another 33 yearlings have been catalogued.

Tags: Darley
Permalink| Feb 21, 2010

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