Looking Ahead puts the spotlight on runners of interest across Australia and New Zealand. Whether they are a particularly well-bred or high-priced runner having their first or second start, a promising galloper returning to the track or a horse which has trialled particularly well, we’ll aim to give you something to follow.
A steady day’s action kicks off at Hawkesbury with a well-connected filly making her debut in some famous silks before a sibling to a Group 1 winner debuts over at Kyneton later in the afternoon.
Hawkesbury, Race 1, 1.50pm AEDT, Motel Mdn Plate, $42,000, 1000m
Diddle Dumpling, 2-year-old filly (Deep Field x Devious Maid {Sebring})
Gerald Ryan and Sterling Alexiou take the wraps off this well-related filly who has been seen to good effect in her two trials to date.
Diddle Dumpling made her first appearance in public when she was offered by Segenhoe Stud at the 2023 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, where her trainers signed the ticket at $325,000.
By Deep Field, the filly is the third foal out of Devious Maid, a winning Sebring sister to dual Group 2 scorer Bring Me The Maid who struck in the Magic Night S. and Silver Shadow S. during her time in training with Peter Moody.
Diddle Dumpling as a yearling | Image courtesy of Magic Millions
Bring Me The Maid was also third in Mossfun’s (Mossman) Golden Slipper in 2014. Devious Maid has got her second career off to a promising start as she is the dam of Voldemort, a son of Not A Single Doubt who won at two and also finished second, beaten just a neck, in the G3 Kindergarten S.
The likes of 2003 Golden Slipper heroine Polar Success (Success Express {USA}) and 2022 HKJC Centenary Sprint Cup scorer Stronger appear beneath the filly’s third dam, Polar Maid (NZ) (Khairpour {Ire}). Diddle Dumpling will be ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, who will sport the silks of John Singleton.
Kyneton, Race 4, 2.30pm AEDT, Bet365 Protest Promise Mdn Plate, $27,000, 1474m
Melisseus, 3-year-old gelding (Fastnet Rock x One Funny Honey {USA} {Distorted Humor {USA}})
Melisseus rates one of the best-bred runners on the Kyneton card as all five of his siblings to race have won, including two who performed at the highest level. He is a half-brother to Vega One (Lope De Vega {Ire}) the winner of six races and over $1.8 million in prizemoney.
Vega One’s biggest success came in the G1 Kingsford-Smith Cup. Another of Melisseus’ siblings is One More Honey, a daughter of Onemorenomore who won the G2 Sweet Embrace S. and went on to breed the G2 Sires' Produce S. runner-up Man In The Mirror (Not A Single Doubt).
Melisseus as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
One More Honey also ran fourth to Alizee (Sepoy) in the 2017 Group 1 Flight S. Melisseus’ dam, One Funny Honey, is a placed daughter of Distorted Humor and Lan Kwai Fong, winner of the G3 Vanity S. and runner-up in the Victorian Oaks.
Melisseus will be saddled by Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young and ridden by Craig Newitt. He cost G1 Bloodstock (FBAA) and Busuttin Racing $400,000 when presented by Merricks Station during the 2022 renewal of the Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
Looking Back
On Sunday, Lario (Epaulette) was narrowly denied in the opening event at Bendigo, while La Mer Bleue (Blue Point {Ire}) didn’t beat a runner home in the same contest.
