A patient ride by Tim Clark saw Diamond Drille back to her best with a last stride win in the Group 3 $150,000 The Irish Echo Aspiration Quality (1600m) at Randwick today.
Diamond Drille wins the Group 3 Aspiration Quality. Photo by Steve Hart
Back on a better racing surface today, Diamond Drille was able to turn her form around after finishing eighth in the Group 3 $150,000 Wiggle Stakes (1400m) at Warwick Farm last week on a slow track.
Clark was able to settle Diamond Drille ($8) back in the field and was a little worried at the top of the straight with nowhere to go, but finally found the way clear to run down Mahara ($7.50) to score by a short neck with Danesiri ($31) in third spot.
“Looked a bit awkward coming to the turn. I wasn’t really where I wanted to be, but I had to be patient, it is a long run in here, and sort of took a deep breath and bided my time and she was really good late,” Clark said.
Winning trainer Gai Waterhouse vindicated her mid-week statement that the Warwick Farm track wasn’t up to Autumn Carnival standard pointing to the All Maher mare’s form turn around.
“It is simply not up to standard. It should just be a training centre. Every time we race there is a track bias and the form doesn’t stand up,” Waterhouse told the Sydney Morning Herald early in the week.
“People don’t like going there, punters don’t like betting there and I don’t know why we race there.”
Today Waterhouse was happy to be back at Randwick with Diamond Drille her second winner for the day after saddling up two year old Valentia to win the Group 2 $175,000 Hyland Race Colours Skyline Stakes (1200m).
“This filly had shown so much potential, she had a long spell and came back and never looked back,“ Waterhouse said.
“Last Saturday on that horrible Warwick Farm track, it just shows, it just vindicates it when you get on a good track like Randwick.”
Waterhouse’s other runner in the Aspiration Quality, Forever Loved, was the more fancied runner from the stable starting the second favourite at $5.50 but was never in the hunt finishing well down the track to finish tenth while race favourite Lucky Lago ($4.80) never threatened to finish fifth.
