Driefontein, May's Dream Win at Morphettville
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Driefontein sped to the front at the start and made all the pace at Morphettville to win the Sportingbet Classic (Aus-I) April 26 at Morphettville. The race was one of two group I races on the card.
Ridden by Vlad Duric for trainer Gai Waterhouse, Driefontein tooled along at a strong pace, and despite tiring in the stretch from her front-running efforts, repelled last year's winner and 3-1 favorite Platelet in a comfortable 1 1/4-length triumph.
In scoring her first win at the top level, Driefontein covered the 1,200-meter (about six-furlong) race (registered as the Robert Sangster Stakes) in 1:09.23 on a track rated as dead. She has won a trio of group III races, including the R. N. Irwin Stakes over Platelet April 14 at Morphettville in her previous start.
Gregers took third, a neck behind Platelet, and Villa Verde finished another 1 1/2 lengths back in fourth in the 12-horse field.
"She jumped really well and I was going to be more than happy to find one or two to follow," Duric told FOX Sports. "No one wanted to go and I just thought, she's won races doing it from start to finish so I just bit the bullet.
"Knowing how Gai trains her horses, she trains them to be bulletproof and rock-hard fit and I rode her that way."
Waterhouse conditions Driefontein for a syndicate. The 4-year-old Fastnet Rock mare, who was bred in Australia by Bylong Park Thoroughbreds, is out of the stakes-winning Export Prince mare Follow Gold.
One race earlier on the card, May's Dream gamely charged through an opening in the straight and won the Schweppes Australasian Oaks (Aus-I) after racing well back in a 16-horse field that was strung out some 15 lengths.
Brad Rawiller bided his time aboard May's Dream and looked to have nowhere to run when the field bunched up on the home turn. He had her ready to strike when a hole opened, however, and speared her through to lead inside the final 100 meters, snatching a short head victory from Star Fashion. Scratchy Bottom finished a head back in third.
A filly from the first Australian crop of New Approach, May's Dream won as the 3-1 favorite and was timed in 2:04.85 for 2,000 meters (about 1 1/4 miles). She was the second winner on the card for her sire, whose 3-year-old gelding Gamblin' Guru won the Chairman's Stakes (Aus-III).
May's Dream finished second to elite filly Guelph in the Thousand Guineas (Aus-I) in October, and rebounded from a third to Girl in Flight in Schweppervescence Stakes (Aus-III) April 12 at Morphettville. Girl in Flight finished a well-beaten 12th in the Australasian Oaks.
Darren Weir trains Australian-bred May's Dream for a syndicate that includes breeder Worrall Dunn. She was produced by group I winner She's Archie, an Archway mare who was runner-up to Makybe Diva in the 2003 Melbourne Cup (Aus-I).