OTI recorded a further four winners for partners in what was a busy week of racing.
The week of success began strongly with French bred Azuro taking out the BM84 2400m Handicap at Caulfield on Wednesday. For a horse with considerable talent, he has taken his time to find his Australian form. He did so in style at Caulfield, coming from the rear of the field. In doing so, he ran some incredible sectionals. He was a full second quicker than all of his rivals over the last 600m.
At Morphettville on Saturday, Kellstorm again proved his staying quality, winning by three lengths in an authoritative fashion over 2600m Handicap. He powered home down the outside to secure the win.
With both trained by Darren Weir, he will be looking to nominate each in either the Lexus on Derby Day or Lavazza on Cup Day.
To the international contingency, Italian bred and trained Noblesse Oblige won the G3 Premio Dormello at Milan. After jumping well, she sat back in the run, but was always travelling comfortably and, as they turned the corner, she weaved her way through quite effortlessly to get to the front about 100m from the line and went to the line solidly under hands and heels. An impressive victory, we are looking forward to her future European race plans under the guidance of trainer Marco Gasparini.
At Naas, Ireland, in the 2000m Handicap, Downdraft returned to form with a vengeance for trainer Joseph O’Brien. Ridden quietly throughout the race toward the tail of the field, Downdraft successfully chased down the leaders to win by almost two lengths finishing comfortably on the line. With a promising career ahead of him, Joseph is quite impressed with the horse’s natural talent.
Key highlights from the Australian assembly include Aloisia’s 3rd place in the G2 Tristarc Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield. Ciaron Maher and David Eustace are pleased with her return to form and the progress she is making this preparation. Against the bias, she ran home strongly, coming within two and a half lengths of winner Shumookh – a pleasing run leading into her target race, the Myer Classic on Derby day.
Tucano also continued his competitive form with another strong run at Doomben, placing 3rd in the BM75 Handicap over 2000m. He appears very close to a win for Tony Haydon and team.
