Dunkel has produced a sublime effort from back in the field to take out the 2023 edition of the Group 1 South Australian Derby.
Jockey Billy Egan saved all the ground diving up the inside aboard the Patrick Payne-trained gelding to nail Promises Kept on the winning post.
As the race went on with 400m to go, you’d be forgiven for thinking the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace training duo were going to pick up yet another Group 1 prize for the winter, as Promises Kept booted clear. But a patient steer by Billy Egan spoiled the party and secured his maiden Group 1 success in the process.
2023 Group 1 SA Derby Replay – Dunkel
Part owner Brandan Danaher spoke post-race on the success of his Dundeel three-year-old and couldn’t have been more thrilled for connections, and particularly trainer Patrick Payne who was at Flemington today.
“It’s very special,” said Danaher.
“All credit to Patrick (Payne) a fantastic training effort – hasn’t run for two months (Dunkel) and it’s a terrific training job he’s done with him.
“He’s an amazing horse and it’s been an amazing horse the way he’s won.
“We’ve had a wonderful association and credit Patrick the whole thing.
“We couldn’t thank him enough, he’s just fantastic.”
Billy Egan spoke post-race after gaining his first Group 1 victory and oozed confidence as soon as Dunkel jumped out of the barrier stalls.
“When we left the straight the first time I was like ‘this is gonna be easy, I’ll just sort of sit one-off, bide my time and go.’ Then we got shuffled back and we had to work our way through them,” said Egan.
“He’s got that sort of killer instinct and every horse out there he wants to pass, and that’s what he did.
“The further we got into the straight, the more my bloke tried, and he wanted to pass it.
“Thanks to Patty (Patrick Payne) and the whole team, it’s not just my first Group 1, it’s all of ours together.
“We’ve been a team for a long time, so I’m just really happy we can enjoy it as a team.”
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