It’s not very often that the reigning Darwin Cup winner squares off with the reigning Palmerston Sprint winner.
That will be the case on Saturday when the Nicole Irwin-trained Highly Decorated and the Chris Nash-trained Mayameen clash at Fannie Bay.
Highly Decorated was nothing short of spectacular in the Top End last year when he arrived from South Australia.
Before heading north, he had only posted one win in 14 starts in NSW, ACT and South Australia.
After finishing third on his Darwin debut at 0-54 level over 1300m, Highly Decorated ended up winning his next seven starts culminating with victory in the $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m).
A five-year-old gelding these days, Highly Decorated won a number of feature races including the Chief Ministers Cup (1600m), the Adelaide River Cup (1600m) on the grass and ROANT Gold Cup (1300m).
It was an astonishing achievement and there’s nothing to suggest he won’t be competitive once again, but the handicapper is likely to make his task a little tougher.
If Highly Decorated left the stayers catching their breath, then Mayameen managed to burn his rivals in the sprinting events.
Mayameen, who hails from South Australia as well, had posted a win at Strathalbyn and Murray Bridge for trainer Will Clarken before arriving at the Nash stable in April last year.
Three wins and a third from Class 2 level to open company ensued before Mayameen won the second biggest race in the Northern Territory by the narrowest of margins with victory in the $135,000 Palmerston Sprint (1200m).
Mayameen was a three-year-old filly when she was weaving her magic at Fannie Bay last year and ended up being named Horse of the Year, Sprinter of the Year and Three-Year-Old of the Year at the 2021 Top End Racing Awards.
Highly Decorated and Mayameen haven’t fired a shot since their exploits during the 2021 Darwin Cup Carnival, but write both horses off at your peril.
The pair confront Kronos – who was once trained by Nash’s father-in-law and former leading Darwin trainer, Stephen Brown – as well as Bull Market and Victorian raider Saccharo in the Oollo Investments Handicap (1200m) on Saturday.
Mayameen returned to the Clarken stable in South Australia where he finished unplaced on three occasions in Adelaide late last year before he returned to the Nash yard for a shot at the $100,000 Pioneer Sprint (1200m) in Alice Springs on May 1.
She finished seventh that day, but that is unlikely to see Mayameen miss her chance at defending her Palmerston Sprint title on July 30 – and Nash is expecting improvement from the mare.
“She went to Alice Springs for the Pioneer Sprint – drew the outside gate and probably wasn’t at her best either, but she didn’t go too bad,” Nash said on Thursday.
“Brought her back here – she’s had a bit of time to recover from that.
“Put in a nice gallop the other morning, so she’s on-song anyway.
“Whether she’s going as well as she was last year for the Sprint, I’m not sure yet.
“The run on Saturday will probably tell.
“She was flying last year and it will be pretty hard to replicate that.”
As for Highly Decorated, Nash is adamant that he must be respected once the Darwin Cup Carnival starts on July 2.
“He obviously likes it a bit further, but he also grows a leg on the dirt,” he said.
“What he did last year was unique, it was a good effort.
“As soon as he hit the dirt he hit the ground running, didn’t he.
“He took it all before him – he’s just a good horse all round, I think.”
And how does Nash think the race will pan out on Saturday?
“Kronos has got plenty of ability and he’s probably the other speed horse in the race – Mayameen and him,” he said.
“They will probably pair off in front, and if they go too hard they may set it up for something else like a stayer sort of getting over the top of them.”
Nash will also have Danon Roman in the $25,000 Adelaide River Cup (1600m) and Ideas Man in the Fawcett Contracting 0-70 Handicap (1000m) at Fannie Bay on Saturday.
Danon Roman was under the tutelage of Nash last year when he finished second behind Highly Decorated in the Darwin Cup, so the Top End trainer came within a whisker of winning the two feature NT races.
Returning to the Michael Hickmott yard when he went back to South Australia, the eight-year-old gelding finished third in the Alice Springs Cup (2000m) on May 1 before heading back to Nash.
“He’s only had three starts on the dirt, and without winning a race he’s probably run as good a couple of races on the dirt as you can run,” Nash said.
“Just on ratings, he’s probably the best horse in the race on Saturday.
“Because of that he has to carry a bit of weight.
“He’s going well – he had a trial the other day and trialed well, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t go well either.
“It’s actually not an easy race.
“As far as Adelaide River Cups go, it’s probably one of the better ones they’ve had.
“Obviously not at Adelaide River this year, but definitely quality wise it’s quite good.
“There’s a couple down in the weights that are progressing and then there are horses like Danon Roman at the top of the weights that have done it before, but now need to do it again.”
Nash confirmed that Danon Roman is once again aiming for a start in the Darwin Cup on August 1.
“He will probably have a light prep going into the Cup,” he said.
“He might have this one and maybe a run or two more between now and the Cup.”
Ideas Man won at his first ever start – his only career win – as a two-year-old when he took out the $500,000 Inglis Banner (1000m) at Moonee Valley in October 2019.
A year later the four-year-old gelding was sent to South Australia where he has impressed and his first up effort in Darwin where he finished second to the talented El Magnificence at 0-64 level over 1100m on May 7 was full of merit.
“He’s going really well and has plenty of talent,” Nash said.
“It was probably my fault first up – he was a bit fat still and I thought he ran a terrific race.
“He’s a bit tighter for this run and he looks really good, so I’d be disappointed if he didn’t win or have an excuse why he didn’t win this time.”
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