Having to survive a protest from the runner-up, VOBIS Horse of the Year Trust In A Gust gave trainer Darren Weir his first Victorian Group 1 win with victory in the MRC Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield.
In winning the 1400m sprint,Trust In A Gust (Keep The Faith x Subtle Breeze) joined fellow Inglis graduates Response (Inglis Easter), Turffontein (Inglis Premier), Bon Hoffa (Inglis Easter) and Exceed And Excel (Inglis Easter) as previous winners of the race.
Going into the race in great form, Trust In A Gust jumped away well from the barrier for jockey Damian Lane, and with his light weight went forward to settle just off the leader.
At the 800m mark Trust In A Gust was in second position and once the field rounded the home turn, the four-year-old hit the front and went for home.
Winning the race by a short half head margin and surviving a protest, Trust In A Gust’s victory was also noteworthy for his sire, the Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale graduate Keep The Faith (Sunday Silence x Duelling Girl), as it provided the Arrowfield Stud graduate with his first Group 1 winner as a sire.
Speaking after the race, trainer Darren Weir was full of praise for his ever consistent galloper.
“It’s great to get the Group 1 in Victoria it has been a long time coming but he is a great racehorse, he actually got headed and fought back and stuck his head out at the right time.
“We had no buyers for him when we bought him at the sales but we have a good bunch of owners in him now.
“It’s a great thrill for me to get it finally (Victorian Group 1) and to do it with this little horse it’s been a great thrill with everyone involved.”
“He has been a great advertisement for the stable and I don’t know what else to say really he is a great horse to train, tries hard and loves working.”
With the Melbourne Racing Club declaring Sunday’s race day Charity Day, each runner in the Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes was allocated a local charity, with the Down Syndrome Victoria picking up a cheque for $20,000 after the victory of Trust In A Gust.
Selected by John Foote and purchased by Weir from the draft of Swettenham Stud at the 2012 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale for $45,000, the win took the earnings of the Adam Sangster-bred Trust In A Gust past $860,000 for his large legion of owners.
Out of the American bred Subtle Breeze, the current yearling out of the mare by the Group 1-winning Inglis Easter graduate Master Of Design has been nominated for the 2015 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
– Inglis
