Pornichet Trounces Doomben Cup Rivals
Description:
French-bred Pornichet punched his ticket to the Melbourne Spring Carnival for a shot at the W. S. Cox Plate (Aus-I) later this year with his convincing victory in the AUS$650,000 Doomben Cup (Aus-I) May 9 in Brisbane.
The 4-year-old son of Vespone won by two lengths from a trio of Chris Waller trainees: French-bred Weary was second, with British-bred I'm Imposing third, and Moriarty fourth in the 15-horse field.
Leebaz lead early, shadowed by 2012 Melbourne Cup (Aus-I) winner Green Moon, who ultimately finished last, Addictive Habit, Banca Mo, Weary, and Hawkspur, with Pornichet midfield under Blake Shinn.
As the field quickened with about three-eighths of a mile to run, Pornichet picked up the pace and closed in on the front-runners. He powered clear in the stretch—at one point leading by five lengths—before completing 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles) in 2:02.52 on good turf.
The victory, the first at the group I level for Pornichet, was one of five on the day for Shinn that also included a second group I triumph with Hot Snitzel in the following race, the Aus$500,000 BTC Cup.
Pornichet was quite ill-mannered in the parade ring and again at the gates, where he reared up and almost missed the start, but trainer Gai Waterhouse dismissed his antics with a laugh.
"He's just a boy," she said.
Pornichet, who is campaigned by a large ownership group, has a 7-1-2 record from 16 career starts that include a third-place finish in the 2014 Poule d'Essai des Pouliches (Fr-I, French Two Thousands Guineas) for previous trainer Nicholas Clement, as well as a pair of Australian group III wins for Waterhouse.
Bred by Hubert Honore and Claire Rouxel, Pornichet, is out of the Septieme Ciel mare Porza, a half sister to French group I-winning sprinter Porlezza.