Trainer Travis Doudle double-accepted with Pegasi on Saturday and he made the right decision staying home at Morphettville instead of travelling to Flemington.
The South Australian industry received a $7.4million prizemoney injection as from the weekend and that meant Pegasi was racing for $65,000 instead of $55,000 in the Thomas Farms Hcp (1000m).
The first-crop son of Vinery sire Star Turn raced on the pace while keeping the leader Scissor Step (Toronado) out in the running line. He responded to a well-judged ride by Todd Pannell to defeat Rodeo (Reward For Effort) by three-quarters of a length.
Pegasi has now won two of his three starts since transferring to Doudle and the in-form trainer has been very happy with his progress. “He’s going really well and it took a good horse (Ocean Reward) to just beat him last time. I was actually happier with that run than his first-up win.
“Saturday’s race was a really good test. It was a small but quality field with a couple of horses across from Victoria. He’s almost a free horse for the owners now and that win probably earned him a shot over the border.”
Pegasi (4g Star Turn – Draw Forward by Charge Forward) was bred by Rob Harding and had been a top-class youngster before changing hands for $40,000 at the Inglis February Online Sale to a syndicate that includes Doudle and previous part-owner Barry Ramsay.
It was also the first-leg of a treble for Doudle who saddled Jaguary (Niagara) and Merchant Boss (Merchant Navy) for wins at Morphettville. “The increase in prizemoney across the board is a big help,” he said. “It’s what we’ve been fighting for and it’s going to help us grow our business.
“I picked up a new horse straight away and was able to buy a horse I was interested in this week!”
Star Turn sired a very impressive 2yo debutant at the Gold Coast on Saturday when Centarus arrived from another post-code to win the Men Matter Maiden Plate (1150m). Trained by Chris Anderson, he was spotting She Is All Magic (Super One) over 8 lengths at the 600m before letting down to nail the tearaway leader on the line.
Centarus (2g Star Turn – Florida Girl by Sebring) was bred and sold by Berend Van Dalfsen for $75,000 at the 2022 Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale to Neil Werrett, Max Whitby and Dave Giesemann.
Star Turn’s winning strike-rate (64%) is the best by far of any stallion on the Australian Top 50 premiership table this season and he stands at Vinery for a $27,500 (inc GST) service fee payable on a live foal. For bookings or further information, contact Adam White (0414 800 918) or Harry Roach (0401 970 006).
This year’s Vinery Stud stallion parades will be on Saturday the 26th and Sunday the 27th of August, starting at 8:30am on both days. It is essential to RSVP if you are planning to come and see our six stallions, which is easy to do at this link: https://vinery.com.au/2023-vinery-stallion-parades/
If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us on 02 6543 8333. We hope to see you there.