Filly’s high cruising speed blitzes Doomben rivals

18 February 2016

Cruising Speed

The well-related Cruising Speed showed this afternoon that she had inherited a good measure of the family ability. The lightly-tried Savabeel filly was making her second appearance at Doomben where she coasted to an easy front-running victory over 1350m.

Trained by John Meagher with his sons Chris and Dan, the three-year-old is raced by the Grant Morgan-managed syndication company Ontrack Thoroughbreds. The Queensland-based operation purchased the filly out of WS’s 2014 Premier Sale draft for $80,000.

Cruising Speed is out of the O’Reilly mare Vanilla Sky, who has left the stakes winner Raid (Pins) and the dam of the Gr 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes winner Stratum Star. Vanilla Sky’s colt by Rock ‘N’ Pop sold to Victorian interests at Karaka last month for $210,000.

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Pure Alpha delivers again as Ardrossan continues to rise

Ardrossan gelding Pure Alpha led throughout to win by 1.29 lengths at Eagle Farm for owner Ozzie Kheir, taking his earnings past $300,000. The result caps a stellar run for sire Ardrossan, whose yearlings fetched up to $450,000 this year on strong Hong Kong form.

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The Corner with Garry Chittick

It is difficult to maintain momentum when sitting in judgment of racing’s governance. After all, I get no pleasure in searching for non-credible decisions, but one is perpetually bewildered by the rationale behind many of the positions that make little sense.