Lovingthelimelight (USA) gave leading Kentucky sire Lemon Drop Kid his first Australian winner at Doomben on Wednesday.

Lovingthelimelight (5m Lemon Drop Kid – Sister Crown by Danzig) cruised to a four length victory in the Carlton Mid Maiden Plate (1615m) for Matamata trainer Paul Jenkins.

The mare had been placed at her last six starts in New Zealand before crossing the Tasman. She was racing second-up in Queensland after fading from the front-end at Sunshine Coast last Sunday week.

Lemon Drop Kid (Kingmambo) denied Charismatic’s bid for the 1999 USA Triple Crown in the Belmont Stakes and then added another G1 victory in the Travers Stakes. In 2000, he had an outstanding year claiming Champion Older Male Horse honours.

His only other runner out here has been the Luca Cumani trained stayer Mad Rush. The English visitor was fourth in the 2008 Caulfield Cup won by All The Good and seventh in the that year’s Melbourne Cup behind Viewed.

Lemon Drop Kid has sired six Group 1 winners and stands for a $35,000 fee at Lane’s End Farm. He got the Doomben winner out of a full sister to Chief’s Crown!

Lovingthelimelight was purchased for $US110,000 as a yearling in the United States. “I would have thought she’d have won a maiden before now,” Jenkins said. “She was trained privately in the United States but never raced because she kept going sore.”

Jenkins won the 2001 Doomben Cup with King Keitel and he believes the mare will stretch out to 2000 metres. If she doesn’t measure up, her owners will retire her to the Hunter Valley this spring.