TWO HORSES MAKING THEIR DEBUT FOR THE DAVID VANDYKE STABLE RETURN PLEASING RESULTS

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 6, 2021

Two horses, Demurral and Oslen, had their first races for the David Vandyke stable in the first week of October and both recorded promising results.

Demurral ($2.70), a recent arrival in the Vandyke yard from the Glenda Bell stable in North Queensland, finished third in a BM 62 Handicap over 1400m at the Sunshine Coast on October 3.

The Not A Single Doubt gelding, who was a three-time winner from nine starts in north Queensland, was slowest away in the nine horse field, but he soon railed up into a position just worse than without doing much work.

That still left the five-year-old some six lengths off the leaders in the back stretch, but he had halved that deficit by the time the field turned for home, saving ground along the inside.

While Demurral was seemingly travelling well enough, a marginal switch across heels at the 250m mark and the fact that he then took time to wind up, meant that the eventual winner Epicurious ($12), who was finishing strongly down the centre of the track, had got first run on Demurral.

While Demurral was finishing as well as Epicurious, the advantage that Epicurious had gained at that vital stage of the running made the difference which Demurral ultimately having to settle for third place, 0.30 behind Epicurious and just a short head behind one of the early runaway leaders Bohemian Boom ($5) who had stayed on in the straight.
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Oslen, for his part, was making his career debut. The New Zealand bred son of Shocking had not raced as a two-year-old and, after three formal barrier trials, David Vandyke electing to kick off Oslen’s career in a three-year-old colts and geldings Maiden Plate over 1350m at Doomben on October 6.

Ryan Maloney dropped Oslen out from his wide draw at the start and then switched across to the rail to race in second last spot, some six lengths off the leader in the early part.

Oslen improved his position while switching wider in the sweep to the turn where he cornered all of four wide, with five horses still in front of him and three lengths to make up.

While Oslen did maintain a steady gallop down the home stretch, Pentino ($7) and the $1.45 favourite Star Patrol had got away from the field and both were fighting on strongly, which meant that, in the end, Oslen’s best result by that stage was always going to be third place which he secured in comfortable enough fashion with Maloney being kind to his mount, only largely pushing him out hands and heels until he had made certain of third place … and then actually easing up short of the line.

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