 | RACING HISTORY |
YEAR: 2009
FEATURE RACE COMMENT
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Size, or the lack of it, didn't count for much as Smiling Shard had his day in the sun at Addington last Friday night.
Part of the Dalgety-Dunn dynamo, Smiling Shard was safe and sharp, leading for the last lap of the $200,000 Garrard's Sires' Stakes Final before putting a spring in his step from the top of the straight to win by more than five lengths. Courage To Rule was a solid second, followed by Stormy Sirocco, and Beaudiene Christian got the best of a battle with stablemate Limited Edition to run forth, nearly 15 lengths from the winner. The hot favourite Kotare Mach was unable to make the lead and, irritated by the grit in his face, started throwing his head when third after 400 metres, scrambled and broke. He caught up, made a flying visit forward to almost join Smiling Shard in the lead at the 600m, but that was where the big run ended.
For Cran Dalgety and Dexter Dunn, it was a memorable way to mark the opening of the new $7m stabling complex, and it came with more than a side salad, because Living Proof, Lightning Raider and Bubba Ho Tep won as well. Earlier in the night, Dalgety had been praising the efforts of Living Proof, Diomedes and Almost Ambition, all nice 3-year-olds who had gone near the cut but not made it for the Harness Jewels. As good as his team is, he said he was missing a good Stakes horse. Within the hour, Smiling Shard had put that to rights, the Group 1 win worth more than $100,000. And there is more to come. He has the $200,000 Harness Jewels in a fortnight, and the Breeders' Crown is more on the agenda than off it.
Dalgety still thinks he is lucky to be where he is with the horse, knowing he didn't operate at the Sales in quite the professional manner he would do normally. "I was up at Karaka and the first I saw of him was in the ring. He was on the small side, but he looked mature for his age. To me, it looked as if he had a bit of backbone, and I thought he was the type that would suit the Earlybird Series in the north. They guaranteed five Heats worth $30,000, and running them no matter what the numbers were, so that was a super incentive."
While that was all well and good, Dalgety went home with a spec buy costing $41,000. "No owners and going to a good home. And I had to push Grinfromeartoear because Mr Feelgood hadn't won the Inter-Dominion then." It wasn't hard, with Cran's wife Chrissy holding a share, and the others being taken by Peter Gorman, Alan Vernel and Alistair Rooney. In the case of Rooney, he was keen to mix and make friends with a new crowd, and Smiling Shard has given him wonderful opportunities to do that. "It's been great," Rooney said. "We go down and give him a pat before he races and again when he finishes. Cran and Dexter are more than professional, and tonight we've met the colt's breeders, Mark and Debbie Smith."
With two wins and seven minor placings, Smiling Shard has been what Dalgety says "filling out the numbers" in the big races. That was before, and now he's not. He showed that as well as being a thoroughly genuine competitor in town hall company, he can have his day as the best of them as often as the others.
Although Dalgety is closing fast on his record number of wins last season - 62 and he has 50 now - he has raced past his stakes tally; $666,000 this season, whereas last season his stable won $571,000.
Credit: Mike Grainger writing in HR Weekly 20May09