MOUNT Isa trainer Jay Morris has won his first Lord Derby Stakes in 10 years with chestnut gelding Damgoodchoice.
The result has caught Morris and racecaller James Coghlan by surprise with both expecting Bob Burow’s Galea Warrior to be first past the post.
Yet jockey Tamara Tincknell rode Damgoodchoice to victory in a narrow lead of 0.8 lengths.
Galea Warrior had outraced Damgoodchoice when it came to a greater amount of prize money in the Class 3 Plate in Cloncurry last weekend and was therefore favourited to win in the Derby Stakes at $2.30.
“Maybe we caught him on an off day,” Morris said.
“I just thought we were a realistic top three chance in the race and things panned out well.”
He was happy with his recent acquisition of Damgoodchoice. Morris bought him off local trainer Philip Miller earlier this year. “He’s had three starts now for us – two wins and a third,” Morris said.
Coghlan noticed that Damgoodchoice ran a different style of racing than he normally did.
“He was out in front and he’s normally not there, and I thought Galea Warrior would get him,” he said.
Coghlan said the Spring Cup also demonstrated good racing.
Jockey Aaron Spradau rode Golden Meteor for a win with 2.5 lengths.
“I thought he’d be hard to beat. He’s won a few lately,” Coghlan said. “They went at it and it was a good battle, and that is what you love to see.
“There were five of them on the straight. They all had a chance.
“Steve Royes (trainer) just has a habit of getting them up for the big races. He travels a bit.
“He travels to Alice Springs and Townsville looking for the money there so he just seems to be able to get them up.”
The racecaller said the maximum temperature of 38.2 degrees would likely have been another race factor – especially with the Spring Cup.
“We were looking for air-conditioning and they were all running their hardest, so I think that would have influenced the results,” Coghlan said.
