3 minute read

Our Ivanhowe secured his first win in Australia when taking out the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on Saturday.

The Lee and Anthony Freedman-trained runner settled back in the field with Kerrin McEvoy on board before running on strongly down the outside, taking the lead over the concluding stages for a strong win.

Our Ivanhowe, who was last seen when not beating a runner home in the in the Group 1 BMW during the Sydney Carnival ran out a half a length winner over Hauraki who notched up yet another second with It’s Somewhat third.

The former European galloper formerly known as Ivanhowe returned a Timeform figure of 123, his highest since winning the Group 1 Grosser Preis Von Bayern at Munich in 2014.

The 124 achieved is his highest Australian rating, slightly above the 122 he ran when third behind Mongolian Khan in the 2015 Caulfield Cup.

Our Ivanhowe measures up very well to recent winner of the race, with 2015 winner Pornichet returning a figure of 123p.

Beaten Up who claimed victory in the 2013 renewal (124) is the highest rated winner since Intergaze (126) in 1999 which puts Our Ivanhowe right up to the mark of recent winners.

The Racing and Sports field strength value (RSFS) OF 121.9 is about par for a Group 1 and above the 2015 renewal of 119.9.

The stable has indicated that Our Ivanhowe will not proceed to the 2016 Brisbane Cup and will go for a spell before the spring carnival.

Of the beaten brigade Hauraki claimed yet another second placing and returned a Timeform figure of 122, his highest since running second to The United States in the Group 1 Ranvet (2000m).

Settling around midfield, Hauraki battled on well in the straight but like so many times before found one better on the day.

Stablemate It’s Somewhat, just under a length away continued his consistent form and returned a figure of 120, equal to his previous best achieved when winning the Group 3 Neville Sellwood (2000m).

Our Ivanhowe finishes over the top of Hauraki to win the G1 Doomben Cup for @FreedmanRacing & @KPMcEvoy!https://t.co/Ij0PffesBc

— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) 21 May 2016

Counterattack followed up a good run for second in the Group 1 Arrowfield Sprint at Randwick with a terrific win in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1350m).

Settling off the speed, Counterattack moved up to the lead inside the 200m and was very strong over the concluding stages to run out a 1.3L winner over Takedown in second with Perfect Dare third.

Counterattack returned a Tmeform figure of 115, four pounds below his second in the Arrowfield sprint two starts back.

2015 winner Najoom ran to 113+ Slightly above that of Counterattack after the fillies claim.

The RSFS OF 115.6 is well above par for a three-year-old Group 3 race with many well performed runners in the field, well above the 2015 renewal of 109.1.

Takedown continued his good form since returning from a throat operation and ran to 111 in second place with Perfect Dare running to a clear new peak of 109 in third, eight pounds above his previous best.

The @mattydunnracing trained Kebede causes a boil over in The Roses at Doomben! @BrisRacingClubhttps://t.co/USrRxq66ut

— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) 21 May 2016

Kebede upstaged her more fancied rivals when taking out the Group 2 The Roses (2000m) following a good run for third in the Gold Coast Bracelet two starts back.

Settling just off the leaders, Kebede was able to get the better of Sebring Sally over the concluding stages with Gold Coast Bracelet winner Imposing Lass third.

Kebede ran a career peak Timeform figure of 103, four pounds above her effort at the Gold Coast two starts back.

The consistent three-year-old filly will head towards the Group 1 Queensland Oaks in two weeks time and will more than likely have to improve off that mark to be winning that.

The RSFS value of 103.5 is well above that of the 2015 renewal and you would expect many of these will now head towards the Queensland Oaks at Eagle Farm.

$100-1 shot Sebring Sally ran to a clear new peak of 103 with Imposing Lass in third and Self Esteem in fourth both returning a figure of 100, slightly below their previous best.

Snippets Land surges late to nail Religify on the post in the G3 BRC Sprint at Doomben! @SnowdenRacing1 @blake_shinnhttps://t.co/DukurEwV2q

— Sky Racing (@SkyRacingAU) 21 May 2016

The Group 3 BRC Sprint also went against the favourite which saw Snippets Land claim a narrow win over Religify with Artlee back in third.

Snippets Land who claimed his first Group success ran to a career peak of 114, four pounds above his second in the Prime Minister’s Cup at the Gold Coast two starts back.

The RSFS is slightly above par for a Group 3 race with Snippets Land the highest rated winner since Beaded in 2010.

Religify also ran to a new career peak of 112 in second with the favourite Artlee disappointing in third and running below his 112 in the BTC Cup.