You are here

Winners For Sepoy and Helmet, Hauraki G1 Placed

Mike Hedge
The 2015 ATC Derby runner-up Hauraki recorded his fourth G1 placing when a courageous second in the G1 Doomben Cup at Doomben, Australia, on Saturday, May 21.

The 2015 ATC Derby runner-up Hauraki recorded his fourth G1 placing when a courageous second in the G1 Doomben Cup at Doomben, Australia, on Saturday, May 21.

In a typically honest performance, Hauraki (John O'Shea/James McDonald) surged to the lead 250m from the line only to be caught in the final few strides by Our Ivanhowe who won by a half-length.

Hauraki's Godolphin stablemate It's Somewhat (John O'Shea/Damian Browne) ran one of his best races since coming to Australia to take third place.

Those efforts came on a day when the Godolphin colt Archives (John O'Shea/James McDonald) became the first Stakes winner for his sire, the Darley shuttler Helmet, when he scored impressively in the Listed Hampden Stakes at Doomben.

And in another triumph for an emerging Darley stallion, Chipanda (John O'Shea/Brenton Avdulla) gave her sire Sepoy his fourth winner, and third in Australia, when she took out the non-graded Les Carlyon Plate at Rosehill in Sydney.

Archives is Helmet's second Australian winner and the sixth overall from his first crops in Europe and Australia.

"He's shown he has inherited a lot of the qualities of his sire, the way he fought on when challenged was very encouraging," said trainer John O'Shea.

"We'll let him get over today's race and then give some thought to supplementing him for the G1 J J Atkins Stakes up here in Brisbane next month."

Winning rider James McDonald predicted more important successes for the colt.

"He still has a lot to learn, he rolled around a bit in the straight but still won with more authority than it might have looked," McDonald said.

For Hauraki, his Doomben placing was something of a frustrating tribute to his consistency.

The son of Reset, a G2 winner as a three-year-old, was running in his seventh G1 race. Since his close second to Mongolian Khan in the G1 ATC Derby, he has also been placed twice this season at G1-level behind one of the world's highest-rated racehorses, Winx.

Hauraki (AUS) Lisa Grimm