Last Saturday’s Sportingbet Classic winner Driefontein is likely to to return to Morphettville in search of Group 1 winning double in the $500,000 The Tapestry Wines Goodwood (1200m) in two weeks.
Driefontein likely to return to Morphettville in search of a G1 double in the Goodwood. Photo by Jenny Barnes.
The Gai Waterhouse trained Driefontein scored an all the way in the Group 1 $400,000 Sportingbet Classic against the fillies and mares, beating last year’s winner Platelet for the second consecutive meeting.
Driefontein in undefeated at her two race starts in Adelaide and was too strong for Platelet at her previous start in the Group 3 $115,000 R N Irwin Stakes (1100m) on April 12.
Waterhouse will send Driefontein back to her Melbourne base at Flemington before returning to Adelaide for a rematch with Platelet in the Goodwood.
“Driefontein will go back to Melbourne and then probably to the Goodwood,” Waterhouse told AAP.
“I sent her south a few weeks ago to let her acclimatise and get used to the opposite way of racing.
“She only cost $75,000 as a yearling and has won more than $2 million. She will be a very valuable brood mare.”
Driefontein will be trying to replicate the performances of turf legend Black Caviar and Platelet who both won the Group 1 double of the Sportingbet Classic, formerly known as the Robert Sangster Stakes and the Goodwood in 2012 and 2013.
The Fastnet Rock mare took her prizemoney earnings over the $2 million mark with Saturday’s $254,600 winning cheque, the eighth win of her career.
Two of Driefontein’s major wins have been at the Magic Millions carnival on the Gold Coast with victories in the 2012 $2m Jeep Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) and at this year’s carnival in the $164,000 R.M. Williams Magic Millions Fillies & Mares Handicap (1300m).
Flemington stable foreman Roger Elliot said that he wasn’t surprised that Vlad Duric took Driefontein straight to the front when no one else wanted to lead.
He said that he had discussed race tactics with Waterhouse earlier in the day and she was happy for Duric to ride his own race on the four year old mare.
“She said Vlad could make up his own mind to go forward and it has worked out great,” Elliot said.
“She races good like that, she relaxed pretty good, so it was great.
“She is doing really well at Flemington and she really enjoys it.”
Last Saturday’s Sportingbet Classic win was Waterhouse’s third Group 1 in the space of two weeks after the leading Randwick trainer scored a Group 1 double on her home turf the previous week with Diamond Drille in the $1m Cellarbrations Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) and The Offer in the $1m Schweppes Sydney Cup (3200m) on the second day of ‘The Championships’.
