Trainer David Vandyke is finishing off the 2024/25 season with a flourish which can only bode well for the stable for the new campaign when it gets under way on August 1.
With no less than eight winners from his last seventeen runners … that is a stable that is flying by any standards … it is not just the present time that has Vandyke in as satisfied a state of mind as you can get from a man dedicated to striving for perfection in his craft, but also there is the prospect of having horses with a bright future to liven up the mood in the stable moving forward.
Vandyke never gets ahead of himself though. It’s all a matter of interpretation but when Vandyke refers to a runner as being a smart horse … as he did on Wednesday … you could do worse than pay attention to his assessment.
“The filly that won today is a smart horse,” stated Vandyke after Acapulco Girl had saluted in sixth race at Eagle Farm. ‘It will keep climbing the ladder.”
Acapulco Girl, who did not race as a two-year-old, now has two wins and two runner-up finishes from her four career starts.
Philia and Pharoah’s Prophecy, amongst other Vandyke trained horses, are runners who have already received their share of attention.
Philia has already won at Group 2 level. She in fact went from Maiden winner to her Group 2 win in The Roses in a four-race winning blitz, before that winning sequence came to an end in the Group 1 Queensland Oaks in early June.
Philia went for a spell after her Oaks run as a four-time winner from only seven starts having saluted over distances ranging from 1350m to 2000m on both good and soft going, giving Vandyke plenty of options to work with as he plans the road ahead for the daughter of All Too Hard.
“Philia is back in work now,” confirmed Vandyke.
“Hopefully, we can find a couple of races for her in the Spring in Sydney or Melbourne … we haven’t decided where yet.”
And what about the horse who has literally held his head up high since resuming two starts back.
“Pharoah’s Prophecy … it worries me with that head carriage. Usually, horses with that sort of head carriage don’t go on and do anything … an exception being Northerly from yesteryear … but he’s got potential.
“He’ll go back to a midweeks again. We’ll take our time with him.”
Pharoah’s Prophecy had two preparations in 2024 … the first being a single start in March and then a three-start preparation in late 2024 in which he recorded a second place, two thirds and a fourth placing before being given a six-month break away from race action.
Pharoah’s Prophecy returned a different horse, romping home in two successive starts by a combined total of 6.50 lengths.
This is just a small sample of some of the bright colours on Vandyke’s palette.
It remains to be seen what picture he will paint in the coming season but, while always acknowledging that there are no guarantees in racing, right now, it would be fair to say that the future looks bright for the stable.
