Scott Darby reckons the telltale sign of his colt Insurrection’s ability might not be his race record, but rather the names in the ownership group.
“I’ve got 10 per cent myself actually,” the Darby Racing boss and leading syndicator joked. “I didn’t mind him at all. You can’t stay in them all, so you’ve got to pick and choose. Generally, some of our better colts I’ll keep five or 10 per cent and the dream is always there. But it’s very difficult to do.”
Insurrection might never forge a career as a commercial stallion, hence Darby’s prophecy that hitting racing’s version of lotto could be beyond reach.
But at least he’s given himself a chance of winning stakes races.
The Michael Freedman-prepared colt will dip his toe into the water in the Brian Crowley Stakes at Royal Randwick on Saturday with the aim of winning his first listed event. After that, who knows?
It’s a long way from the midweek races he’s been scurrying around this spring, but Willinga Beast’s scratching has carved out a major chunk of the market for a race light on numbers this year.
Scott Darby with jockey Ben Melham after She Will Reign’s Golden Slipper win.Credit:Getty
It has given Insurrection the chance to justify the faith of Darby, who bought the horse for $150,000 at the Inglis Classic Sale last year.
“He was a lovely shape, and he’s from a good family out of a Not A Single Doubt mare who’s a half to Shamus Award,” Darby said. “It was a really nice family and he’s a really good-looking colt.
“[Freedman] might have been in the right place at the right time. He loved the horse as well which played a part in it. He’s always liked him pretty much from day one. He’s shown plenty of ability, but he’s been doing a few things wrong here and there. I think we’ve got him pretty sorted now.”
Insurrection was a $4.50 second favourite with Sportsbet on Friday for the Brian Crowley, which was headed by Anthony Cummings’ last-start Midway winner Kote ($2.70). Blake Shinn will ride Insurrection after returning from Melbourne for the Spring Champion Stakes meeting.
“Originally, he was going to go to the other three-year-old race which was run a couple of weeks ago,” Darby said.
“I think Michael just wanted to get a kill with him and we were tinkering with a couple of things before we head to this sort of grade. He’s definitely better with the blinkers and he was just losing a bit of momentum on the corner and not concentrating.
