Dazzle Legend brought up an interstate double for Dawson Stud graduates at Randwick on Saturday with a determined victory in the Petaluma Hcp (1600m).
It followed the eye-catching win of the Luke Fernie-trained Russian To The Bar in the Morley Growers Market Maiden Plate (1300m) at Belmont on Wednesday.
Dazzle Legend (3g Zoustar – Canny Time by Canny Lad) was getting out to a mile for the first time and he also benefited from a gear change with a addition of a Norton bit. Sparingly raced by trainer Chris Waller, he had won a Canterbury maiden in December and was given the tick of approval by Kerrin McEvoy on returning to scale.
“He is probably still learning his craft and could eventually go a little bit further in trip. I didn’t want to hit the front too soon but the horse on my outside gave him a bump and it spurred him into gear.”
McEvoy also kept Don Pedro (Pierro) in a pocket which was another factor in a driving finish to victory over NZ-bred placegetters Castillian (Per Incanto) and Canadian Ruler (Vancouver). “The Norton bit worked and he’s only going to improve,” stable foreman Damien Fitton said. “It was a great ride by Kerrin. He held the main danger at a critical spot in the straight.”
Dawson Stud’s Graham Daws sold Dazzle Legend for $350,000 through the Yarraman Park draft at the 2022 Gold Coast Magic Millions and he’s already returned over half that price-tag for Legend Racing.
His dam Canny Time is a younger half-sister to G2 VRC Danehill Stakes (1200m) winner Charlie Boy (Myboycharlie) and she foaled a colt by King’s Legacy for Daws in August.
“I bought his second-dam Maritime (Falbrav) in a package when she was carrying Canny Time back in 2012,” Daws recalled. “Maritime had the weakest pedigree of the mares in the agreement and I was initially reluctant to have her included. Luckily, I ended up taking her because Charlie Boy burst on to the scene the following season.”
Russian To The Bar (Photo / Western Racepix) was a record-breaking $200,000 graduate of the 2022 Perth Magic Millions Winter Yearling Sale and he’s worth every penny on the bare form out of a brave first-up victory on Wednesday.
Hustled to front from a midfield barrier, he worked outside the leader Millie Jane (So Secret) and looked under siege when tackled by Papavero Princess (Sessions) in the straight. Responding under a left-hand whip ride by Chris Parnham, he regained the lead to score by a length in one of the better maiden wins seen in Perth this season.
Russian To The Bar (3g Russian Revolution – Rosie Rocket by Blackfriars) is trained by Luke Fernie for a syndicate managed by Daws and he races in the Trucking Nominees colours of David Reed.
He’s a half-brother to the Dawson Stud-bred graduate Kissonallforcheeks (Written Tycoon) who was a five-time black-type winner to Group 2 level in the VRC Let’s Elope Stakes (1600m) at Flemington.
Dawson Stud has entered 11 yearlings for next month’s Perth Magic Millions and its first-crop colt by Vinery Stud sire Ole Kirk (Lot 118) received a recent dual-city update when his older half-brother Running By (Impending) doubled up at Caulfield and Randwick.
