Dakadan Princess (4m Akhadan – Lady Empress) has kicked off 2013 in brilliant fashion for the Trackside Racing Team.
A trial winner before her first race start, the mare has always shown a great deal of ability – so much so that apart from the trial win, she was able to win a maiden early on in her career, and was also tested at stakes class.
Having her second run this preparation, she clearly derived benefit from her first-up run at Gawler a month prior, where she was in need of the outing. That run blew the cobwebs off from her Spring spell, and with the added fitness under her belt, the Trackside Racing team went into the event, expecting the mare to be very competitive.
Punters on the other hand, seeing a 9 of 10 in the form-book, sent her out at juicy odds of 10/1, and those that were happy to forgive her first-up run, were duly rewarded.
Jumping from her wide gate, Shayne Cahill snagged Dakadan Princess towards the rear of the field from the jump, and for much of the journey, this is where she stayed.
Motoring along down the side, and coming to the corner, Dakadan Princess was travelling sweetly, and approaching the turn on the fence, a run was all that was needed for her to be in the finish.
At the top of the straight, Cahill eased off heels to search for that run, and the first slammed shut. For a fleeting moment it appeared that this was going to be a hard luck story as any momentum that had been gathered was stopped. Not giving up all hope though, Cahill eased her to the outside where a gap appeared and immediately got busy.
Dakadan Princess exploded, and rounded up her opponents to win by half a length on the line, running the fastest last 600m, 400m, and 200m of the entire field.
It was an astute move by Minervini to resist temptation to extend the mare beyond 1200m, by keeping her at 1200m for her second-up run, and now that the mare has found form, plenty of options open up for Dakadan Princess, who will now no doubt enjoy the longer trips that she has previously shown she is capable of.
Congratulations to the owners Shaun Brooker, Craig Burns, David Cavuoto, Amelio Fresi, James Harrison, Matthew Harrison, Phil Harrison, David Hill, Matthew Neve, Adam Shears.
Daniel Borg
Trackside Media