Refuse To Bend’s penultimate southern crop started with a welcome winner when Ghostnthedarkness scored a one length victory in the $75,000 Fitton Insurance Hopeful Plate (1000m) at Toowoomba on Friday night.

Ghostnthedarkness (2c Refuse To Bend – Lion Queen by Lion Hunter) overhauled Emerald Isle (Carry The Flag) and Little Zachary (General Nediym) to win Australia’s first juvenile event of the season.

Refuse To Bend shuttled to Australia from Darley’s Irish base at Kildangan Stud in 2005, ’06 and ’08.  There were 68 live foals in his initial southern crop but, overall, they were a major disappointment last season.

His only Australian winner was Imperial Lines who won a Strathalbyn maiden in February although Cramps did add a Beaudesert maiden on the opening day of the current season.  The other Refuse To Bend winners were Alamid (Phillipines), Khaki Halls & Ariddaun (South Korea) and Ocean of Time (South Africa).

Refuse To Bend (Sadler’s Wells) was a G1 winner of the Irish National Stakes at two and the English 2000 Guineas, Queen Anne Stakes and Coral Eclipse as a three year-old.  

Darley drew a red line through his name when announcing its line-up for Australia this year.