THREE WINNERS ALL OOZING POTENTIAL

By Graham Potter | Sunday, April 14, 2024

What a weekend it was for David Vandyke Racing!

It wasn’t just the three stable winners over two meetings ... on Saturday April 13 and Sunday April 14 ... that was impressive ... it was the quality performances of Queensland Oaks candidate Moszur (who was winning for the third time in a row), of Ellibaby (who made it two wins from two starts) and from Fourandahalf (who won on debut) that caught the eye as much as the numbers in the frame.

Fair to say, Vandyke couldn’t have gone home any happier from these two meeting.

Moszur, who is a small filly, came into the QTIS Three-Year-Old Handicap at Doomben on April 13 stepping up from 1600m to 2020m under a 59.5kg burden. It was a big ask to complete the hat trick of wins, but the filly justified the confidence Vandyke had placed in her with a striking performance.

Moszur was a little tardy away but, apart from those first few strides, she was perfect from the moment Ryan Maloney settled her in third place soon after the jump.

Maloney was happy to keep a watching brief on the leaders, racing three to four lengths off the speed as the field went down the back stretch.

It was an untroubled run for Moszur, who started second favourite at $3, and it wasn’t until the approach to the home turn, where Moloney just encouraged the filly with a flick of the wrists, that Moszur began her forward move, to the point where she was virtually alongside the leader on straightening.

With 250m left to run, Moszur surged into an outright lead, but the $1.95 favourite Ichiban, who had tracked Moszur throughout the race, was now a length-and-a-half behind Moszur and running on just as well as the new leader.

Ichiban did close to within 0.43 lengths of Moszur at the line but could not reel in the Vandyke trained runner as Moszur, in spite of tiring slightly late, as she was entitled to do, kept on digging deep in a really testing situation as Ichiban probed for some weakness on the part of Moszur, but found nine.

(Also see separate story) MOSZUR ON TRACK FOR THE QUEENSLAND OAKS
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Vandyke only brought two runners to the Sunshine Coast meeting on April 14 and went away with two winners who are oozing potential.

Ellibaby, who had won on debut in town (at Doomben) on March 24, faced the starter for only the second time ... this time in a Class 1 Handicap over 1200m ... and got the same result.

In her perfect record of two wins from two starts, both wins have come over the 1200m distance ... the first on good going ... the second on an officially soft surface.

Ticking boxes.

Ellibaby, who was the hot $1.95 favourite, did win with something in hand in the end, but she did not have the most comfortable of passages, not least due to her own racing inexperience.

A wide barrier draw (eight out of nine) didn’t help matters and Ryan Maloney chose to try and negate that disadvantage as much as possible by pushing forward early ... a move he pursued all the way until he had taken Ellibaby to the front just inside the 800m mark.

From there, Ellibaby maintained a neat length advantage at the head of affairs until she went back to second place as she drifted nearly five wide when taking the home turn.

It was on straightening that Maloney really got busy in the saddle.

He had to ... the race had turned into a cavalry charge at that stage and, apart from her ability, Ellibaby faced a real test of character, which she passed with flying colours as her talent and her commitment combined to help her produce a sustained run home.

Even with 150m left to run, it still wasn’t certain if Ellibaby was doing enough as Loose Unit ($7.50) ranged up alongside, threatening to go right past her, but under a forceful ride by Maloney, Ellibaby simple refused to be beaten and the winning margin at the line was in her favour.
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Three races later, Vandyke sent out Fourandahalf, a three-year-old Charge Forward gelding, for his first career start after only one barrier trail (on a heavy track) which was satisfactory without being eye-catching.

That perception was arguably a factor in Fourandahalf being priced up at $9, which, in general, is a generous price for a Vandyke trained first-timer. That ... and the fact that he jumped from barrier draw ten out of eleven in this Three-Year-Old Maiden Handicap over 1200m.

This time, in stark contrast to his earlier ride on Ellibaby, Ryan Maloney went back from the wide gate, nursing the debutant into the race in a quietly measured fashion, which took Fourandahalf to as much as seven lengths off the early lead ... and to second last ... by the time the field had travelled 200m.

Little changed in much of the sweep to the home turn but, by saving ground as the field started to corner, Fourandahalf was now within four lengths of the lead, but faced with a wall of horses in front of him.

When Maloney spotted the gap he wanted to go for, he urged Fourandahalf to work with him coming through the 300m mark and, in spite of his inexperience,
Fourandahalf rallied like an old hand, split the gap, joined a line of four in front, eased into the lead and then still had to find the extra to see off the challenges of the $3.10 favourite Moonfleet and Watermelon ($17) who finished hard on the outside of Fourandahalf, seriously threatening the winning charge of the Vandyke trained runner.

Fourandahalf stayed strong though, in impressive fashion, to keep Moonfleet and Watermelon at bay by 0.20 and 0.30 lengths respective to land an impressive win.

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