Import Dajraan has been described as having a group 1 action to go with his regal breeding, and he might be ready to deliver on both after winning the Festival Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
The Frankel five-year-old out of Golden Slipper winner Mossfun has been given time to feet his feet by the Waterhouse-Bott training team at Tulloch Lodge after winning impressively at Warwick Farm on Australia Day and appreciated the firm going in the group 3 victory after the wet weather interrupted his spring.
Tim Clark was happy to sit outside the leader and as Dajraan ($11) went through his gears, and he held a winning margin of a length from group 1 runner-up Mirra Vision ($5), with Kirwan’s Lane ($13) a long neck away in third.
Tim Clark gets Dajraan to the post in the Festival Stakes. Credit:Getty
“We went back to the drawing board and put together a program that included this race, and hopefully now onto The Ingham in two weeks,” co-trainer Adrian Bott said.
“He is back on track now. I thought he has come back a different horse this time in.
“He’s been more settled in his work. He has always had a great turn of foot and we were able to see that today because he settled so well.”
It was once again a perfect ride on the speed from Clark, who was relieved to show off Dajraan’s talent on race day.
“The public has only got a glimpse of his talent; we have seen a lot more at home,” he said. “That is a taste of what he can do, and we have been waiting for that. He just hasn’t been mentally there, but he is getting better and the dry track helps.
“He has a beautiful action and when he relaxes into his work that is what he can do.”
Dajraan will join stablemates Riodini and Surf Dancer for the $2 million The Ingham, and Bott is hoping for a dry track.
“He has been hampered by the wet tracks because he has so much brilliance,” Bott said. “He is still a stallion, so if could win a couple of nice races, being a son of Frankel he might find a home.
“I was hoping he could run top three today, and that would have put him on target for The Ingham. But his win shows he is right into contention for that race.”
Mensa Missile made it a double for the stable in the last race of the day.
Clark trusts Zethus in Starlight victory
Tim Clark made the right decision early on in the Starlight Stakes to let Sneaky Paige take the lead and trust that Zethus had the ability to run her down.
Zethus ($9) returned to Sydney after failing down the straight during the Melbourne Cup carnival. When Clark asked him to find a couple of lengths in the straight, he did so before holding off Sky Command ($7)
and Fox Fighter ($7.50).
“I wanted to trust that my horse was going to be the strongest late,” Clark said.
“I thought I was always going to get to the leader and with his light weight he was in the race very well, and he was very strong late.”
“He probably had a bit of a stargaze when he got there, but he was good enough to hold them off.”
McLucas classic ride lands longshot Marsabit
Danny Williams felt apprentice Amy McLucas owed him a winner and she delivered when Marsabit landed a long-priced plunge in Saturday’s Country Classic.
Williams admitted tipping the five-year-old to friends, which led to an $81 to $41 price shift before Marsabit launched down the centre to win from the unlucky favourite Dream Runner ($4.80) and Beckford ($41).
“I didn’t back it myself but told a few people and they will be happy,” Williams said. “I thought he was going well heading to Newcastle, but it was trainer error there because I had him too fresh.
“He has always been a nice horse and that suited him.”
Williams praised three-kilogram apprentice McLucas for her ride from a wide gate.
“They had gone 200m and she was one off, and I thought here we go,” Williams said. “I think she has had nine rides for me and slaughtered a few of them, but that makes up for it.”
Another Schiller double takes him to second on the premiership
Tyler Schiller continued his outstanding November with another Rosehill double that took the apprentice to second behind James McDonald on the Sydney premiership and only six wins from losing his 1½ kilogram claim.
Schiller stalked the speed on Whanga Wonder to take the Midway Handicap before getting the pace right on Mission Phoenix.
“He went fast enough to hold the lead and take them out of their comfort zone,” Schiller’s boss, Mark Newnham, said of the ride on Mission Phoenix. “It was a very smart ride.”
Schiller has now won back-to-back races on Mission Phoenix and feels he can continue through the grades.
“He just keeps finding for you and was really strong at the end again,” Schiller said. “There always seems to be more there.”
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