The G1 Victoria Derby sits slightly uneasily in the Australian racing calendar. Its distance (2500m) is seen as a fairly stiff test of stamina for any Australian horse nowadays, never mind for 3-year-olds so early in the spring that some of the contenders have still not yet celebrated their actual, if unofficial, third birthday. However, it bears the prestige that the weight of history can bestow, and its $1,500,000 pot of prize-money helps it to maintain its position of eminence. This year's winner Prized Icon (Aus) (More Than Ready) is clearly a high-class colt who should continue to bolster the race's reputation. The betting for the Victoria Derby was dominated by the only two 3-year-olds in the field who had scored at the highest level as a juvenile. Prized Icon had landed the G1 Champagne S. over 1600m at Randwick last April, and the only horse to go off at shorter odds was Sacred Elixir (NZ) (Pour Moi {NZ}) who had taken the G1 BMW J. J. Atkins S. over the same distance at Eagle Farm in June. Punters were correct to believe that this pair would have an edge over their lesser-performed rivals, but wrong about the order in which they would finish. Prized Icon has not always looked the easiest of rides, including when spoiling his chance by over-racing when taking on his elders in the G2 Chelmsford S. over 1600m at Randwick early last month. However, he settled beautifully on Saturday, travelling very kindly for Glyn Schofield, who felt that the big track at Flemington played very much to his horse's strengths. Sacred Elixir ran very well and was clearly best of the rest, but over the final 300m Prized Icon was clearly the strongest, passing the post two and a half lengths clear with Inference (Aus) (So You Think {NZ}) almost four lengths back in third.
VICTORIA DERBY-G1, A$1,510,000 ($1,147,373/£941,087/€1,044,361), VRC, 10-29, 3yo Open Set Weight, 2500mT, 2:36.16, gd.
1–PRIZED ICON (Aus), 55.5, c, 3, by More Than Ready
1st Dam: Tropical Affair (Aus) (SW-Aus $41,815), by Danehill
2nd Dam: Just as Lovely (Aus), by Bletchingly (Aus)
3rd Dam: Stick to Beauty (Aus), by Dignitas
O-Gooree Stud (E M Cojuangco & M C Cummings); B-Gooree Park Stud Pty Ltd NSW; T-James Cummings; J-G Schofield; A$910,000. Lifetime Record: 13-3-2-5, A$1,494,100. *Full to
Romantic Moon (Aus) GSW-Aus $220,950.; 1/2 to Matras (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}) GSW-Aus $149,372. Werk Nick Rating: A+++ *Triple Plus* Click for the eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Sacred Elixir (NZ), 55.5, g, 3, Pour Moi (Ire) –Baltika (NZ), by Stravinsky . (NZ$170,000 Ylg '15 NZB NATYRL). O-Raffles Thoroughbred Racing (Mgr: K T Yap); B-G W de Gruchy, Central, NZ; T-A W Pike; J-Z Purton; A$270,000.
3–Inference (Aus), 55.5, c, 3, So You Think (NZ)–Pontiana (Aus), by Redoute's Choice (Aus). O-L P Maxsted, P C Maxsted, G P I Racing Syndicate (Mgr: Gp Ingham), S J Tuxen, Ms K N Cooper,P K And Mrs C Allen & G J Hayes; B-Mr GP Ingham NSW; T-M, W & J Hawkes; J-D Dunn; A$135,000.
Margins: 2.5, 3.8, 4.0
Also Ran: So Si Bon (Aus), Swear (Aus), Hollywood Mo (Aus), Rocketeer (Aus), Highlad (Aus), Beach Life (Aus), Silvera (Aus), Tumultuous (Aus), Wine Bush (Aus), Captain Duffy (Aus), Kent (Aus), All Out of Love (Aus), Morvada (Aus).
This victory enables Prized Icon's trainer James Cummings to register the fourth leg of a remarkable family training sequence. His great-grandfather Jim Cummings sent Comic Court (Aus) (Powerscourt {Aus}) over from Adelaide to land the VRC Derby in 1948. Jim Cummings' son Bart, James' legendary grandfather who began his training career in Adelaide and ended it in Sydney, saddled five winners of the race. And James' father Anthony took it four years ago with Fiveandahalfstar (Aus) (Hotel Grand {Aus}). “It is obviously fantastic to win a race that my family has been involved with for so long and this horse really deserves it,” said the trainer. Prized Icon has benefited from what one thinks of as a typically solid Cummings preparation for a big staying race. He has already raced 13 times; he had seven starts as a juvenile, and landed the Victoria Derby on his sixth outing of the current season (and his third during October). He had completed his preparation for the race when finishing only fifth behind Sacred Elixir in the G2 Moonee Valley Vase over 2040m seven days previously.
Pedigree notes…
Prized Icon, whose dam Tropical Affair (Aus) (Danehill) was a precocious juvenile who landed her only victory over 900m, is raced by his breeder Eduardo Cojuangco of Gooree Park Stud who offered the colt at the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale in 2015 (in the Widden draft) but took him home after he had failed to reach his A$300,000 reserve. Tropical Affair is the dam of eight winners from twelve foals including a stakes winning full sister to Prized Icon called Romantic Moon (Aus) and a similarly succesful half brother called Matras (NZ) (Zabeel {NZ}). Click for the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree.
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