Gary Portelli's enigmatic sprinter Rebel Dane scored a shock win when beating most of Australia's best sprinters in the $1 million Group I Manikato Stakes (1200m) on Friday night at Moonee Valley.
Rebel Dane ($61), ridden by Ben Melham, defeated Matt Dale's Fell Swoop ($7.50) by a head with a length back to the Chris Waller-trained Japonisme ($16) in third.
The $2.45 favourite Chautauqua finished a disappointing eighth while Capitalist was a late scratching due to the track being downgraded.
This is what the jockeys thought of the performance of their ride in the Manikato Stakes.
|
Place |
Horse |
Jockey |
Comment |
|
1st |
REBEL DANE |
Ben Melham |
That was pretty bloody good, pretty happy with that. He travelled well, I gave him a click up before the corner and I was surprised how quickly he picked up underneath me and I knew it was going to take a good one to pick him up and thankfully there wasn't one good enough. |
|
2nd |
FELL SWOOP |
Hugh Bowman |
The race didn't pan out as we expected but I was so happy in the run. We had our chance but just came up a bit short. He's racing very well. |
|
3rd |
JAPONISME |
Glyn Schofield |
I'd say he's back to the form from last year so a good return. |
|
4th |
THE QUARTERBACK |
Matthew Allen |
He ran huge. We couldn't keep up early, I was trying to stay inside Chautauqua and inside Lucky Hussler but I was off the bit. Maybe it was the soft ground or the turning track and at the 600 metre mark I thought I was going to run last. By the time he balanced up and got into gear, his last furlong was huge. Looking forward he's going to be really hard to beat in the Darley (Classic). |
|
5th |
UNDER THE LOUVRE |
Chris Parnham |
Ran really well. Would have preferred to get to the outside of runners but would have had to lose some momentum. He's probably a better horse at 1400 too. |
|
6th |
BUFFERING |
Damian Browne |
I think father time is catching up with him now. Unfortunately, that may have been his last run. |
|
7th |
ENGLISH |
Mark Zahra |
Disappointing. I thought I had the run of the race to peel out and finish over the top of them but she never really stretched to hit the line. |
|
8th |
CHAUTAUQUA |
Dwayne Dunn |
Very disappointing. He's well below his best, he's just not wanting to find the wire. He's just not the same horse we know he is. There's horses passing him in the straight which never happens so maybe we just have to regroup. They shoved me back in at the 600 but that was fine, I had plenty of room in there but I had nothing at the finish. |
|
9th |
LUCKY HUSSLER |
Brad Rawiller |
He was quite disappointing tonight. I had a good run and before the turn it was the run I thought we needed, he's normally towing you into it but he didn't tonight so we'll see how he is in the washup. |
|
Last |
HOLLER |
James McDonald |
It was always going to be a tough task coming off the plane from England. He's run a fair race without being brilliant. |
