Former Hong Kong runner Redkirk, who races as Redkirk Warrior in Australia, delivered the goods for his initial top-shelf victory in the G1 Newmarket H. at Flemington Saturday. Dismissed at 30-1 come post time, Redkirk was placed in a handy fourth by Regan Bayliss, as Star Turn motored straight to the head of affairs with the crowd's pick Extreme Choice (Aus) (Not a Single Doubt {Aus}) applying some early pace pressure. Traveling sweetly throughout, Redkirk stormed up to even terms inside the final 300 metres and kept finding to dash clear and win by two lengths, while Voodoo Lad lunged late to deny Star Turn place honours by a short head. Extreme Choice faded to sixth.
“I'm so pleased to have been involved with Regan's first Group 1 win, as I expect there will be many many more,” co-trainer David Hayes, who was winning his first Newmarket H. since 1993 with Primacy (Aus) (Prego {Ire}), told www.racing.com. “He's got a good head on his shoulders and horses run for him. The first part is done. We've got the Newmarket and now it's onto the second part of the plan and that is to go into the [G1] Doncaster [Mile at Royal Randwick Apr. 1]. When the horse came to me the owner said that if you get his feet, he can race Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}). I thought he was dreaming, but now….”
Plagued throughout his career with feet problems, Redkirk's Hong Kong tenure was highlighted by a runner-up performance in the Listed Hong Kong Classic Cup in February of 2015, but he finished 11th as the favourite in the Listed Hong Kong Derby a month later. Spelled eight months and two weeks, Redkirk resurfaced with a fifth in a Sha Tin handicap that November, but that was his final Hong Kong start prior to a wind operation that benched him for almost a year and saw him transferred to the Hayes' Lindsay Park operation. He filled the second spot in a Moonee Valley handicap over 1200m in October of 2016 and then nabbed the G3 Sandown S. at Sandown-Hillside Nov. 12. Spelled three months and four weeks, Redkirk became the first horse to ever win the Newmarket H. first up.
Pedigree Notes…
The last foal out of his unraced dam, Redkirk is Notnowcato's first Group 1 winner. His second dam is a half-sister to Bold Arrangement (GB) (Persion Bold {Ire}), a champion juvenile in France, as well as runn-up in the GI Kentucky, while his third dam is a half-sister to English highweighted juvenile filly Lindsay (GB) (Dante {GB}).
Saturday, Flemington, Victoria, Australia
NEWMARKET H.-G1, A$1,255,000 (US$946,960/£778,596/€887,117), VRC, 3-11, Open Handicap, 1200mT, 1:09.05, Good.
1–&REDKIRK (GB) , 52.5, g, 6, by Notnowcato (GB)
1st Dam: Flag (GB), by Selkirk (USA)
2nd Dam: Flower Arrangement (GB), by Lomond (USA)
3rd Dam: Arrangement (GB), by Floribunda (GB)
(22,000gns Ylg '12 TATOCT). O-M B Lee & Miss Y C J Tam;
B-Mrs L. Peacock, GB; T-D & B Hayes & T Dabernig; J-Regan
Bayliss; A$755,000. Lifetime Record: SP-HK, 10-5-2-0,
A$1,392,080. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Voodoo Lad, 54.0, g, 5, I Am Invincible–O'Fortuna, by Gilded
Time (USA). (A$36,000 Ylg 2013 WI Scone Yearling Sale).
O-Segenhoe Thoroughbreds Australia (Mgr: K W Maloney), Est
Of The Late N Leckie, D Anderson & P W Blackburn; B-Mr N
Leckie NSW; T-D K Weir; J-Damian Lane; A$225,000.
3–Star Turn, 52.5, c, 3, Star Witness–Golden Delicious, by Made
of Gold (USA). (A$400,000 Ylg 2015 MM Gold Coast Yearling
Sale). O-A R Bell & Vinery Stud (Mgr: P C Orton); B-Widden
Stud Australia Pty Ltd NSW; T-M, W & J Hawkes; J-G Boss;
A$112,500.
Margins: 2, SHD, HD. Odds: 30-1, 16-1, 7.50.
Also Ran: Sheidel, Tivaci, Extreme Choice, Inspector, Super Cash, Spieth (NZ) , The Quarterback, Illustrious Lad, Terravista, Counterattack.
Click for the Racing Post chart or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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