4 Venues, 4 Wins - Sans Doute Loves Flemington

Loving the straight at Flemington, Sans Doute (4 m Not A Single Doubt – My Prerogative, by I Am Invincible) racked up a hat-trick in the A$150,000 Resimax Group Plate (1100m) on Saturday.

Having won as she liked in the Benchmark 70 1000 metres on 20 December, she made it back-to-back course wins in the Black Caviar 1100 metres on 20 January, and duly obliged again despite an interrupted passage.

With apprentice jockey Celine Gaudray (a1.5) combining again for their third success, Sans Doute was positioned just off the lead, in quite close quarters, and experienced some buffeting while attempting to wind up into the finish.

Once clear at the 200m, she extended beautifully to space her rivals and went on to win emphatically by three-quarters of a length.

“It’s really difficult to do, winning three in a row, especially at Flemington, but she’s shown to love the course and continuing to establish a really good sprinting record,” said trainer Mark Walker.

“Ben (Gleeson) and the team are doing a very good job with her at our Cranbourne stable.

“When we sent her over we thought she would be ideal for those 1000 and 1100-metre races and there’s so many more opportunities in Victoria for those types of races than we have in New Zealand.

“It’s a benefit for our owners too, seeing all the different types of races that our horses are suitable for and obviously there’s fantastic stake money as well.

“I think she’s only going to keep getting better with age and we’re really looking forward to chasing some Australian black type with her, and add to her Group Three placing in New Zealand.”

On Good4 footing, Sans Doute ran 1100 metres in 1:04.9 and paid $2.30 & $1.50 on the NZ TAB tote. 

Sans Doute was purchased by David Ellis CNZM for $300,000 at the 2021 Australian Easter Yearling Sale, from the draft of Arrowfield Stud, and is owned by Te Akau In No Doubt Racing Partnership (Mgr: Karyn Fenton-Ellis MNZM).

She has now won six of her 14 starts, nearly NZ$300,000 in prize money, and has the pedigree to dramatically increase her residual value. 

When buying, Ellis considered her a natural looking athlete, with a great eye, and both the sire and dam-sire were atop the 2021 General Sires list in Australia.

“She is a very elegant filly, from a good family, and we thought she was the best filly in the sale by Not A Single Doubt,” he said.  

“With him (Not A Single Doubt) no longer serving, fillies like this are becoming rare commodities and we were thrilled to be able to secure her.

“She is from a fast family, full of black type winners, that included 2000 Guineas (Gr. 1, 1600m) winner Ugo Foscolo (Zacinto), so hers is a family we can relate to in New Zealand.

“We really thought she displayed a lot of potential when racing in New Zealand, but she’s gone to another level in Australia, and maturing into a very competitive sprinting mare.

“Mark and Ben and our Cranbourne team are doing a fantastic job with her and I thought that after receiving a few bumps she displayed a heck of a lot of determination to win today.

“We’ve had 11 metropolitan wins this season in Melbourne, and the highest winning percentage (34%) among the top 20 trainers, so there's no doubt our Australian stable is firing on all cylinders.”

Sans Doute carries a bloodline cross through her sire lines of Golden Slipper (Gr. 1, 1200m) winner Canny Lad, by speed sire Bletchingly. 

Sans Doute was strapped by Hailey Morton.

Photo credit - www.breednet.com.au (Bruno Cannatelli)