PAUL JENKINS PRESENTS LADY LE DA IN WINNING FORM FIRST-UP AFTER A FIVE MONTH BREAK

By Graham Potter | Monday, April 10, 2023

The lightly raced Lady Le Da arrived at Ipswich for a QTIS Three-year-Old Fillies Handicap contest over 1350m on April 10 first-up and fresh after a near five month break from race action.

The daughter of Doomsday only had four previous starts coming into this race, but she already had a win on the board. She had finished third on her debut over 1400 before saluting in her second career start when fitter for that first-up run and when stepping up the distance to the 1600m trip.

Both of those runs were at her home track at the Sunshine Coast, and she was back there two runs later (after a lack-lustre effort in town at Eagle Farm) and she added another third placing to her form-line when finishing 2.50 lengths behind the Lee Freedman trained Soothsayer over 1600m. (Soothsayer would frank that form by going on to complete a hat-trick of wins).

Trainer Paul Jenkins brought Lady Le Da back in distance to 1350m for this first-up effort at Ipswich where she jumped as a $4.40 third favourite in a competitive betting race.

With Mark Du Plessis in the saddle for the first time, Lady Le Da settled in the second half of the field early on, giving the duelling leading duo of Heroic Miss ($6) and April In Augusta ($4) some five to six lengths start.

Lady Le da was still back in the pack in the start of the sweep to the home turn but, when Du Plessis asked his mount to go forward inside the 500m mark, the Jenkins trained runner duly obliged, tracking up nicely enough all of four wide, but she still had a full four lengths to make up on straightening.

Lady Le Da was up to the challenge.

The run that she had began in the approach to the home turn found a new gear once Du Plessis had balanced Lady Le Da up for her finishing effort, and she quickly cut back the deficit on the horses to her inside to hit the lead with 100m left to run.

Du Plessis gave a quick glance to his left with 75m left to run to ensure that nothing was coming at Lady Le Da on his outside ... but there was nothing to see and Lady Le Da went to the line a decisive winner by a 1.30 length margin.