James McDonald believes there are strong similarities between Savvy Nature and It’s A Dundeel after his dominant win in the Spring Stakes (1600m) at Newcastle.
The John O’Shea trained colt will be given the opportunity to follow in the footsteps of It’s A Dundeel by running in the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes (2000m) at Royal Randwick on October 12.
“I think we have another Derby horse, he is brilliant, he switches off and has got a wicked turn of foot,” McDonald said.
“Both Savvy Nature and It’s A Dundeel are very raw horses, he (Savvy Nature) has got a lot more strength than Dundeel, he did it all on ability, this bloke is a bit stronger.”
Savvy Nature settled midfield in the Group 3 contest and appreciated the strong tempo set by Fuerza before winding up down the middle of the track to score a comfortable win over Wordplay with Happy Clapper a close third.
The Spring Stakes changed complexion throughout the day with pre-post favourite Stamina scratched on veterinary advice before Gai Waterhouse’s pair of Rockabill and then Equator were also scratched.
O’Shea said Savvy Nature would run in the Gloaming Stakes (1800m) on Saturday week and Spring Champion Stakes a fortnight later before heading to Melbourne for the Vase at Moonee Valley and then the Victoria Derby.
“He is a big gross colt who will thrive on racing,” O’Shea said.
“He is about 555kg today and I think his perfect racing weight will be about 540kg. Today was only his fourth ever start, there is good improvement in him.”
– Racing Network
