Filly Delicacy Wins South Australian Derby
Description:
Posting her second top-level win in seven days, Perth-based filly Delicacy bested 15 males to win the Aus$500,000 William Hill South Australian Derby (Aus-I) May 9 at Morphettville.
The Al Maher filly unrolled a powerful outside rally to secure the victory at the 100-meter mark, where she overwhelmed Allergic and edged clear to tally by 1 1/2 lengths.
New Zealand group II victor Werther zipped past Allergic in the closing strides to take second.
Well back early after breaking from the far outside post, Delicacy was forced to check on the backstretch and briefly appeared a no-hope. But steadily advancing thereafter for Peter Hall, she was in contention by the home turn.
Chu Chu Charlie attempted to lead all the way, with Magicool, Werther, Maysoor, and Allergic the early contenders. Werther, Allergic, and Magicool battled toward the finish line, but Delicacy came flying for the win.
Final time for 2,500 meters (about 1 9/16 miles) was 2:37.91 on turf rated as soft.
Bob Peters' homebred Delicacy earned a sixth consecutive win, coming in off a triumph May 2 in the Schweppes Australasian Oaks (Aus-I) at Morphettville. In the last six weeks, she has landed two Derbys and two Oaks, also having captured the Western Australian Oaks (Aus-III) March 28 and the Western Australia Derby (Aus-II) April 11.
Delicacy was sent off the heavy favorite in the South Australian Derby, while each of her male rivals left the gate at double- or triple-digit odds.
Trained by Grant Williams, Delicacy has a 10-1-2 record from 14 career starts and earnings of AUS$1,440,120. She was produced by the winning Scenic mare Simply Wicked.