Duntle lands Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown
David Wachman’s 3-year-old filly, Duntle, has captured her first Group success, notching the top place in the Desmond Stakes at Leopardstown on Thursday, August 16th.
It was her first appearance since landing the Sandringham Handicap (Listed Race) at Royal Ascot in June and despite a gap of almost two months, she did not show any rustiness.
Despite not making a good start, the 5-2 chance did a wonderful job under Wayne Lordan. The 3-year-old ran well to make herself prominent in the middle stages, and went fourth approaching straight. She further improved her work to lead inside the final 150 yards.
After getting into command, she made no mistake whatsoever until the finishing line. Following a splendid effort, the filly seized the top rank by three quarters of a length. Owned by Niarchos Family, the daughter of Danehill Dancer handled things quite nicely on Leopardstown’s soft surface to land the Group 3 meeting.
The handler expressed plenty of delight over taking the big prize. He admitted that the filly struggled early on, but brought the situation under control marvellously in the closing stages. He stated after the race:
"She struggled a bit in the ground early on but conditions are better for the last two furlongs and when she met the rising ground she picked up well. It was a good effort considering the ground as she prefers it a lot better."
Duntle was carrying the second highest odds after Takar, who was declared the 9-4 favourite. It was a terrible day for John M. Oxx’s charge, as he completed the order of finish. Staying on one pace in the final stages allowed the rest of the pack to take the game away from him.
Wayne Lordan earned two victories for David Wachman, as he rode Galileo Rock to an easy 7-length win in the Irish Stallion Farms European Breeders Fund (Colts & Geldings) Maiden earlier in the day. On Galileo Rock’s debut success, the rider shared:
"He's a nice colt and had been showing us a bit at home. He is still quite babyish and we were a bit worried about the ground but when the penny dropped he went and did the job well."
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