Let Her Inspire U
A return to dry track conditions was enough to see gifted mare Let Her Inspire U returned to her winning ways. The US based four-year-old kicked off a weekend of encourages stakes performances that included a G1 second, G2 third and two eye-catching fourths in Australia when dominating a USD84,000 Optional Claiming field at Aqueduct.
Boggy tracks at Aqueduct over the Christmas/New Year period stalled Let Her Inspire U’s rich vein of form which had seen her string together four wins and a second between June and October. Her fifth career success on Friday lifted her earnings through the USD400,000 barrier and confirmed that more success should be in order.
“This was exactly the race we were looking for after those two poor efforts in the mud. She finally got a dry track and made easy work of this short field, stalking and pouncing for a facile victory,” said Christie DeBernardis, China Horse Club’s representative for the Americas.
“Let Her Inspire U has plenty of options from here. She has three wins sprinting and a stakes win going long, which gives us plenty of places to go, but we will leave the final decision to trainer Todd Pletcher.”
Within 24 hours of Let Her Inspire U’s dominant display, the China Horse Club’s Australian division kicked into overdrive with a quartet of quality performances.
- Don Corleone 2nd AUD2,000,000 G1 Blue Diamond Stakes
- Bases Loaded 3rd AUD250,000 G2 Skyline Stakes
- August Bloom 4th AUD250,000 G2 Sweet Embrace
- King of Sparta 4th AUD750,000 G1 Oakleigh Plate
Luck failed boom colt Don Corleone who was pinned back in the field before exploding between runners to finish second in the AUD2,000,000 G1 Blue Diamond Stakes – Victoria’s premier juvenile content. On the same programme, King of Sparta burnt paint when coming from well back to just miss the placings in the AUD750,000 G1 Oakleigh Plate.
In Sydney, Bases Loaded and August Bloom were fronting the starter for only the second occasion and both stamped themselves of performers of the future. Bases Loaded tried valiantly to lead throughout before finishing third in the AUD250,000 G2 Skyline Stakes. Quality filly August Bloom again delivered a searing finish from an awkward position when flashing to the line for fourth in the AUD250,000 G2 Sweet Embrace Stakes.
For the Peter and Paul Snowden Stable the display from Don Corleone in the G1 Blue Diamond Stakes franked their long held assessment of him but the near miss stung.
‘’I’ll talk to the owners whether it’s the Golden Slipper or ATC Sires Produce Stakes,’’ Peter Snowden said post-race.
‘’He ran really well. I thought the draw (barrier three) was good but was a little worried it could be against him a bit because he has no gate speed.
‘’Go back and see where [Don Corleone] was, and you won’t believe he did what he did. ‘’[Mark Zahra] said they kept jamming up and jamming up. He said, ‘the last 150m I could see daylight,’ but he’s not a horse you can rush quickly.
‘’Once Mark got him balanced again, he was terrific through the line and pulling up.’’
Zahra was circumspect having dismounted. “Don Corleone ran enormous. Just got shuffled back and needed a bit of luck but it was all too late.”
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