Tough mare English scored an overdue Group 1 win when she beat the more fancied runners in the $700,000 Kirin Doomben 10,000 (1200m) at Doomben today.
English, above, scored an overdue win in the 2018 Doomben 10,000 at Doomben. Photo by Steve Hart.
Englsih was runner up two starts back to In Her Time in the Group 1 $700,000 The PFD Food Services Galaxy (1100m) at Rosehill on March 24 before finishing sixth to Trapeze Artist in the Group 1 $2.5m Darley T J Smith Stakes (1200m) at Randwick on April 7.
Winning jockey Tim Clark gave English ($11) the run of the race from barrier one and sat behind the speed before slicing through along the inside to claim victory for co-trainers Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott.
The James Cummings trained Impending ($12) was doing is best work at the finish to claim second spot with the proven Group 1 performer Le Romain ($16) running another mighty race to fill third position.
The Peter and Paul Snowden trained Redzel was sent out as the $2.50 favourite and after sharing the lead with the $41 outsider Monsieur Gustave, couldn’t match it with the first three but fought on well for fourth.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott said that everything fell into place today for English and she will now stay in Brisbane and chase more Group 1 glory in the Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1350m) at Doomben on June 9 and in the Group 1 $500,000 Sky Racing Tattersall’s Club Tiara (1350m) at Doomben on June 23.
And the stable will be chasing a slot in the $13m The Everest (1200m) at Randwick during the 2018 Sydney Spring Carnival.
“She has been a hugely talented mare throughout her career and for the last eighteen months we have been able to make genuine excuses every time she went around,” Bott said.
“Today everything fell into place for us. In-form jockey made all the right decisions today and she came up here to Brisbane in great order so it is good to see it all fall into place for her.”
“We came up here very confident, she was feeling well within herself. We freshened her up after the T J deliberately to bring her through this carnival, I though the races would really suit her up here. A bit of give in the ground today have probably been the key as well.”
“We will keep her up here. Races like the BTC Cup (Kingsord-Smith Cup), she has a nomination for the Stradbroke and maybe a race like the Tatt’s Tiara back to the fillies and mares grade.”
“I guess with a win like that you also have to see whether we will keep her in training and look at a race like The Everest again.”
English is now marked as a $13 chance for the 2018 Stradbroke Handicap with Ladbrokes.com.au.
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