Six
year-old Duporth gelding Dashing Fellow added another feature race win in Hong
Kong to his resume when taking out the Group III National Day Cup at Sha Tin on
Sunday.
The John Moore trained gelding was not among the more fancied runners, but
defied all challengers to win the 1000 metre sprint by a neck.
Pre-race, the attention was on John Size's trio – emerging star D B Pin,
top-rated Mr Stunning and last year's winner Amazing Kids– but they finished
third, sixth and eighth respectively as Dashing Fellow caused an upset under
homegrown rider Vincent Ho on a surface softened by rain throughout the card.
"Well, that was a bit of a surprise, wasn't it?" a shocked Moore quipped. "The
track helped him I think, just took the sting out of the ground for him, but I
still wasn't expecting that in the slightest. He compounded in the trial and he
was blowing down the house, although my horses do come on after their first
trial."
A $160,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling purchase from the Kitchwin Hills
draft for George Moore Bloodstock, Dashing Fellow has won eight races from 35
starts so is a more than useful performer.
Dashing Fellow is a half-brother to stakes-winner Aeronautical and is one of
three winners from stakes-placed Fusaichi Pegasus (USA) mare Moon Fever, a
half-sister to stakes-winner Brilliant Bisc from Group I winner Stella Cadente.
A troubled producer, she has not had a living foal since leaving Dashing
Fellow.
A Group I winning son of Red Ransom (USA), Duporth was initially well supported
at Kitchwin Hills, but is now standing at Kooringal Stud at a fee of $7,700.