Flemington’s ‘Straight Six’ has brought the very best out of Te Akau Racing’s Sans Doute (Not A Single Doubt), who improved her record at the venue to four-from-four with a valuable black-type win in the Listed ATA/Bob Hoysted Handicap (1000m) on Saturday.
Previously a black-type placegetter in New Zealand with a second behind Group One performer Best Seller (NZ) (Wrote) in the Gr.3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m), Sans Doute relocated to Te Akau’s Cranbourne base for the spring and kicked off her Australian career with a second at Moonee Valley, a sixth at Seymour and a third at Moonee Valley.
But everything has changed since she started racing at Flemington. The four-year-old won a Benchmark 70 handicap on December 20, followed by a Benchmark 78 on January 20 and a mares’ handicap on March 2. Saturday marked the step up to stakes level, and she delivered in style with a breathtaking finishing burst.
Ridden by expat Kiwi jockey Mick Dee, Sans Doute was slow to begin and found herself a long way off the leaders at the halfway stage. She was still a clear last at the 300m, but then she produced a spectacular turn of foot to roar down the outside of the track. She reeled in Najem Suhail (Starspangledbanner) and snatched a stunning victory by a head.
“I’m not sure we’ll see a more impressive win today,” Dee said. “I’d planned to settle in behind them and then get her to the outside, but I didn’t anticipate being slow away and settling a good two lengths off the second-last horse. Once we joined the course proper, the leaders would have been about 10 in front of me. For her to get up and win the way she did was a very, very strong performance.”
The win continued a remarkable run in Melbourne’s sprint features this season for Te Akau and their head trainer Mark Walker. Their headline horse Imperatriz (I Am Invincible) has won the Gr.2 McEwen Stakes (1000m), Gr.1 Moir Stakes (1000m), Gr.1 Manikato Stakes (1200m), Gr.1 Champions Sprint (1200m), Gr.1 Lightning Stakes (1000m) and Gr.1 William Reid Stakes (1200m).
“It was a pretty impressive win today by Sans Doute,” assistant trainer Ben Gleeson said. “Mick’s ride was 10 out of 10. He was patient and knew her turn of foot was elite. The pace was on and the race mapped out as perfectly as we could have hoped.
“This mare has an incredible turn of foot and her confidence is skyrocketing. It’s hard to believe that just a few months ago she was running at Seymour and producing a pretty plain performance.
“Obviously her first win at Flemington grew her confidence, and it’s amazing what confidence can do for a horse. Mark came up with this plan to ride her cold, and those tactics are working perfectly.”
Sans Doute now had 15 starts for seven wins, five placings and A$391,757 in stakes.
