Mick Price & Michael Kent Jnr have run the quinella in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes at Flemington, with First Settler ($3.90) just holding off Reserve Bank ($4.80) in the 1100m contest.
The son of Written Tycoon entered the Danehill off an impressive second place finish in the Posiedon Stakes behind the very talented Growing Empire, and with him not running on Saturday, First Settler bounced back with his third win at his fourth start.
Lofty Arch ($10) led the field with Aardvark ($61), while the race favourites settled in opposite positions, with the runner up in the middle of the track and the winner on the inside fence.
Michael Dee pushed the button on First Settler, and he quickly sprinted past the slowing speed influences; however, he had his stablemate challenging on the outside.
In the final 100m, the Price & Kent runners appeared to be the only winning chances, and as they fought out the finish, Dee got everything out of the winner before getting the bob in perfectly to claim a valuable Group 2 victory.
2024 Danehill Stakes replay – First Settler
Michael Kent Jnr was on course at Flemington to represent the winning stable in the post-race interview.
“It’s a pleasing result when you’re working out a photo between your own two horses,” Kent Jnr said of the winner and runner-up.
“Rapt with the horses, they ran up to expectation. They’re both lovely, promising stud-type colts and both are very good.
“They often work together and there’s nothing between them.
“I’ve said it all along, I was rapt with Reserve Bank. It was his first try at stakes company.
“He lived up to what he’s shown at home. He’s got the beautiful physique and a good turn-of-foot.
“He was exposed the whole way. So, he was very good there. I think he’s got more to come in his coat, but the winner, gee, it was a determined run.
“Mick (Dee) had to fight him to get cover. He went back to last on the inside.
“And it was a very good trait for a colt to be able to come up the inside. It’s never easy.
“Bring on the Coolmore. There’s two options.
“You’ve got four weeks from now until the Coolmore back here at Flemington.
“Either you go two weeks Gothic Stakes (then) two weeks into the Coolmore, or you go four weeks between runs. We’ll decide that after they pull up.”
Michael Dee was quick to point out that the tactics he used were not what he had planned before the race.
“Pretty much what we did then is what I didn’t want to do,” Dee said.
“I actually planned to be up near the speed, so we could just come out to the middle of the track and as it turned out, we ended up back.
“Credit to the horse, he showed a great turn of foot and first-up the other day, he peaked on his run.
“Today he was electric and he kept going and running right through the line, so he’s very nice.
“He hasn’t done much wrong to-date, and he got beat by a very smart one the other day.
“I thought we still had plenty of improvement to come, so who knows?”
First Settler is a $9 chance with horse racing bookmakers in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes futures markets.
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