Popular mare Dixie Blossoms scored an overdue Group 1 win with a stunning victory in the $600,000 Coolmore Classic (1500m) at Rosehill today.
Dixie Blossoms, above, scores an overdue Group 1 win in the 2019 Coolmore Classic at Rosehill. Photo by Steve Hart.
Dixie Blossom had been placed twice in Group 1 company before today and a marvellous training performance from Ron Quinton saw the six year old mare win at her second run back from a spell.
Dixie Blossoms showed that she was in for a good campaign with a first up second to Alassio in the Group 2 $200,000 Guy Walter Stakes (1400m) at Randwick a fortnight ago but she was still sent out as the lucrative odds of $21.
Winning jockey Christian Reith allowed Dixie Blossoms to settle in the second half of the field from barrier two in the capacity twenty-horse field and weaved a passage in between runners in the straight.
Reith decided to head back to the inside with Dixie Blossoms and found a way through and the mare was able to relish the soft conditions and went on to record a two and half lengths win over the Kris Lees trained three year old filly El Dorado Dreaming ($21).
Lees filled both the minor placings with Princess Posh ($41) filling third spot.
Dixie Blossoms is one of Quinton’s favourite horses and rates today’s win as one of the proudest moments for him on a race course.
“I think it’s one of my proudest days on a racecourse to win that Group 1 with Dixie. It’s just unbelievable. She’s been knocking on the door for a couple of years,” Quinton said.
“She’s a doll. One of the kindest horses you could deal with. A wonderful mare. The heavy track maybe levelled them up and she does handle it. You could let her out on the street and she would find her way home. I’ve just been dying for Dixie to win that Group 1.”
Quintion was confident Dixie Blossoms would handle the wet conditions and told Reith to ride the mare for luck.
“She has won on a heavy before so I wasn’t concerned. I just told Christian to ride her for luck off the two barrier. Ride her for luck and hope for the bloody best. It was the Dixie of old,” Quinton said.
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