GYPSY GODDESS GIVES HER CONNECTIONS A MILLION REASONS TO SMILE

By Graham Potter | Saturday, October 29, 2022

The $10 million Golden Eagle at Rosehill on October 29 had always been the aim for Gypsy Goddess.

It was to be her Grand Final without any preliminary … a strategy devised by trainer David Vandyke to keep the freshness in the legs of his Group 1 Queensland Oaks winner in order to give her the edge she would need if she was going to be competitive over 1500m … a distance notably short of her best trip.

That plan came to fruition in stunning fashion … and, no, it was not a winning result … but a cool padding out of the bank balance to the tune of $1 million for third place thank you very much!

You can’t go back … and why would you with a million dollars won in your back pocket … but there always remains a tale of what might have been as Gypsy Goddess’s low barrier draw combined with that freshness in her legs, allowed the daughter of Tarzino to get a great run in transit, not far off the speed, but it also dictated an inside run for her down the home stretch,
whereas arguably the centre of the track was where you would ultimately have liked to see her.

Not that she ever shirked the task.

With daylight in front of her and Willie Pike supporting her in solid fashion from the saddle, Gypsy Goddess kept coming with an sustained effort that, in the end, earned her that third place, less than a length behind the winner, I Wish I Win and the second placed Fangirl who had gone to the line together in a stirring finish.

Thanks to a racing NSW initiative, the race conditions dictated that ten percent of prize-money earned would go to a charity of the respective horse owners’ choice … and The Mark Hughes Foundation was the recipient of a $100 000 donation, following Gypsy Goddess’s great effort.

It might not have been a race victory, but it was a win / win situation all around … not to mention a really great day out on a great racing occasion … particular as Wenona Smartone had brought his own A-Game to the table earlier in the day to add to the overall, rare level of satisfaction enjoyed by the Vandyke stable connections on the day.
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Whereas Gypsy Goddess’s program had been set in stone after her Group 1 victory in the Queensland Oaks all the way back in June, Weona Smartone’s tilt at big race glory in Sydney was really an after-thought.

David Vandyke wasn’t heading that way with Weona Smartone until he got the call asking him if he would nominate the well performed son of Shamexpress for the for the Group 3 Sydney Stakes at Randwick on October 12.

Weona Smartone had won nine of his twelve starts at that stage … and Vandyke duly nominated the lightly raced six-year-old for the Sydney Stakes in which he was bold enough to give the big race a shake, looking for one moment inside the final 100m like he might come through and win it, before having to settle for a highly creditable third place.

Two weeks later, one race before Gypsy Goddess went into action, Weona Smartone was back in action in the Nature Strip Stakes taking on the likes of Private Eye (who had finished second in both the Stradbroke and the Everest), Mazu (who won the Doomben 10 000 and finished third in The Everest) and Kementari.

All of those runners beat Weona Smartone home (in that finishing order … Weona Smartone finished fourth, beaten by just two lengths) … but the list of horses who finished behind Weona Smartone added further lustre to his performance.

Rollicking By, Eduardo, Lost And Running, Riodini, Brutality, Masked Crusader, Kolding … all real quality runners were beaten to the line by the Vandyke trained runner underling the exceptional nature of Wenona Smartone’s performance.

Oh, and you can throw in a combined total of $335 000 earned in prize-money for Weona Smartone’s two starts in Sydney.

Not a bad return for an after-thought!

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