Keep Dee Dee D’Or on your shortlist
Freedman has good ones in Mr Coppola and Monster Energy
Sometimes you don’t have to win a trial to be a “winner”. Like Dee Dee D’Or. The five-yearold ran second to Lord O’Reilly in the third of four trials on Tuesday morning.
But, I reckon, his name would have gone into many notebooks – only to be regurgitated when the ghostly grey galloper next goes to the races.
Dee Dee D’Or was unsighted in the early part of the 1,000m sprint. Indeed, he was last when they had settled and all he could see when they made that turn on the far side were the bobbing bottoms of the five jockeys ahead of him.
Racing to the 600m and he had picked off the first of the hangers-on — in this case it was Lucky Hada, who was trialling as a “new registration”.
All the while, Yulong Xiongyin was giving jockey Benny Woodworth a horrid time. Indeed, as they prepared to straighten for the run home, the chestnut had swung out so wide that he seemed to have a plan of his own – and that was to take the MRT train home.
Yulong Xiongyin would, however, finish with a flourish to claim third spot. But it was Dee Dee D’Or who caught the eye.
they were into the stretch, the Irish-bred began to cut back on the deficit and, in that charge to the line, he was found wanting by the narrowest of margins – a nose.
Dee Dee D’Or has still to open his Kranji account but it should come sooner rather than later. Indeed, his last run was impressive.
Carrying stable confidence – they eventually sent him off as the $24 second pick – he wasn’t the swiftest out of the chute and had just two behind him when they cleared that long back stretch.
However, in the run to the line, Dee Dee D’Or was travelling better than anything else in the field but just could not beat Aotearoa who had the momentum. Aotearoa would prevail by a narrow margin.
Prepared for the races by Mohd Yusof, his winning turn could come at his next start. So, remember the name.
Keep an eye also on Monster Energy and a precocious younger galloper named Mr Coppola. Both are trained by that maestro Lee Freedman and both were smart winners on Tuesday.
A two-year-old colt, Mr Coppola showed tenacity when winning his trial in 60.97sec.
Second on settling and jealously guarding his spot next to the rails, he was in a line of three – the others being Analyst and Ocean General – when passing the 600m.
Seven-year-old Ocean General led with 250m to go but, like a frantic washerwoman, jockey Daniel Moor scrubbed Mr Coppola along and the youngster responded to win by a shorthead.
As for Monster Energy, he made every post a winning one. Ridden by Olivier Placais, the three-year-old chestnut gave his rivals too much to chase, drawing away over the final 250m to win with 21/4-lengths to spare.
Master Banger, who was always in touch with the leaders, took second with Redoubt holding on to third.
But it was all about Monster Energy. An all-the-way winner over 1,400m in January, he looks to be running into a rich vein of form having won an earlier trial on April 23.
Keep him on your shortlist and run with him at his next outing.
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