Te Akau Racing continue to make their presence felt in Australia since opening a Cranbourne stable in the spring and four-year-old mare Sans Doute made it back-to-back wins at Flemington when a game winner.
Perfectly ridden by apprentice Celine Gaudray, Sans Doute sat closer to the sedate speed than anticipated and followed the rail home for a narrow victory over A Little Deep.
Trainer Mark Walker has now had nine wins in Victoria this season and sits sixth on the premiership by prizemoney, with stable stars Imperatriz and Skew Wiff contributing much of the more than A$4million in stakes the stable has earned.
Placed in the Group 3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) in New Zealand at three, Sans Doute is relishing her time at the Cranbourne stable according to Walker’s Assistant Trainer Ben Gleeson.
“Working with Mark and the trust he shows in myself to try and place these horses, it’s a team effort, and to see the way she has progressed since she got here – in the early days she had a poor run and now she has found form – it’s very satisfying,” Gleeson said.
“I had a phone call with Mark earlier, saying usually you don’t really want to be drawn down on the rail but with the form that Celine’s in we will just trust her. Sure enough the first few straight races were won on the rail, so we were sitting pretty.
“We were just hoping that the gaps would come and they certainly did.”
Gleeson said the daughter of Not A Single Doubt enjoyed having her races spaced and a black-type target was high on the agenda.
“She has had a pretty long preparation now but we will see how she pulls up. Whether a week at the water-walker or a couple of weeks in the paddock might do her wonders,” Gleeson said.
“We would like to try and find some more black-type with her, potentially in Adelaide.”
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