For trainer Ron Quinton, keeping his two best horses apart is not easy but the first leg has paid off with Daisy Doom’s narrow win in the Group Two Millie Fox Stakes.
A week after Daysee Doom’s victory at Rosehill on Saturday, Dixie Blossoms will run in the Group Two Guy Walter Stakes at Randwick, with the pair to clash later in the carnival.
But this weekend belonged to Daysee Doom in the 1300m race for fillies and mares named for the late Millie Fox, who backed Quinton as a trainer when the champion jockey retired from the saddle.
“It’s fantastic to win a race named for Mrs Fox,” Quinton said.
“And it’s great to win with this mare. She is very tough. She’s a bit mad but she’s one tough nut and never knows when she’s beaten.”
Daysee Doom ($7.50) tracked the leader Girl Sunday ($14) from the outset and the two held their positions heading into the straight.
They were soon under siege, with Daysee Doom getting the better of Girl Sunday by a head and Foxplay ($5) joining in to finish another short half-head third.
Favourite Prompt Response ($2.60) was close up fourth.
“We could have finished fourth or fifth,” Quinton said.
“This is so important for her breeding. The owners have already been offered big money for her.
“Both she and Dixie Blossoms will head to the Coolmore Classic. It’s not easy to keep them apart.”
Quinton’s stable is much smaller than it was 20 years ago but he still produces good horses each year and is also renowned as a trainer of jockeys, with champion Hugh Bowman among those he has nurtured.
The latest is reigning premier apprentice Andrew Adkins, who has recently finished his indentures.
“It’s a great win for Andrew and he gets on so well with this mare,” Quinton said.
