Godolphin’s crop of two year old’s continues to shine and their latest exploits were on display at Newcastle today where Larkspur Run and Gymnastics finished 1-2 in the Two-Year-Old Maiden Plate.
The betting, based on her two runner-up finishes in her only two previous starts and the fact that she was fitted with blinkers for the first time, suggested that Larkspur Run ($1.60 at Sportsbet) would be the better of the two on the day and so it proved.
The daughter of Shamardal skipped clear halfway up the home straight with the chasing pack all under some pressure and, although Larkspur Run did start feeling the pinch late, she had done enough to secure her Maiden win by a little over half-a-length.
Larkspur Run’s stable-mate Gymnastics ran on stoutly to claim second placing, producing a promising effort on debut at a starting price of $14.
“That was a lovely run by the filly and a lovely ride by Rachel (King) … and a good team effort from the everyone at Crown Lodge who put a lot of work into both of these fillies and who are doing a great job with the two-year-olds,” said stable representative Darren Beadman.
“The second filly was good. Hughie Bowman rode her in the trial the other day. He said, ‘I think this is an Oaks filly … and I said, you’ll have to wait until next year mate’. Nostradamus I started calling him.
“There are a couple of nice fillies races coming up over the autumn. We might be able to get a bit of Black Type with them.
‘It was encouraging to see the second filly finish off the way she did and it was a very deserving win for the winner.”
