Connections of Diddle Dumpling haven’t ruled out giving the mare another shot at black type company after she maintained her unbeaten start to the campaign with an all-the-way victory at Rosehill.
Owned by wealthy businessman John Singleton, Diddle Dumpling was competitive in stakes grade as a two and three-year-old but co-trainer Gerald Ryan said her racing manners had let her down in the past.
That hasn’t been the case this campaign, the four-year-old on her best behaviour to score at Gosford first-up before backing it up with another sustained display of speed in the The Agency Real Estate Handicap (1300m) on Saturday.
“She has settled a lot in the brain this time around,” Ryan said.
“She had a good spell and came back a lot stronger and more settled in herself.
“She has always had the ability. It was just getting her to do things right and this time around she has done everything right.
“Today was her test. Push the button like that on her before and you’d never get her to come back to you but she came back to Tim (Clark) nicely today.”
Diddle Dumpling ($6.50) maintained her effort right to the line to score by a length over Golden Straand ($13) with Codetta ($5.50 fav) third, another half-neck away.
“We will try to win another one of these but I’d love to get black type with her,” Ryan said.
“She handles wet ground so a couple of those early mares races in August and September might be alright for her, but we will see what’s around.”
Storm The Ramparts continued his outstanding campaign when he led throughout a race later and has now triumphed in three of his past five starts and finished runner-up in the other two.
Prior to that, the four-year-old had been winless since December 2023, although trainer Joe Pride said the horse did have a genuine excuse for his run of outs.
“He was diagnosed with a shoulder problem that was bothering him, so we gave him a decent break and he has come back in great form,” Pride said.
“The July Sprint back here in a couple of weeks would not be out of the question.
“I won it with Eduardo a few years ago and I’m sure there is no Eduardo in the race this year.”
Lumping 62.5kg, Storm The Ramparts outsprinted his rivals to score by 1-1/4 lengths from First Landing with Pokerjack another neck back in third.
