With yearling-sale season on the doorstep, like many other trainers John Mcardle will soon embark on viewing thousands of young horses with an eye to trying to find a bargain.
Sometimes, however, it is closer to home where the results come along and the Mornington-based trainer’s sense for a good performer can be vindicated by keeping on with a mare who may have delivered her first ‘proper’ performer with the homebred Divine Dot.
This two-year-old filly won at Mornington by three lengths on debut on December 23 over 1200 metres and will step out for the second time in Saturday’s $150,000 Geelong Diamond (1100m).
Divine Dot’s dam Miracle To Me won two races in Melbourne and she is the second winner among her small sample of progeny.
“She pulled up well,” McArdle said of her debut performance.
“They didn’t run a huge time and, obviously, at this stage we don’t know what the quality was like, but she did a lot wrong and still won very easily.
“She ate up that night and with a few days on the water walker she’ll be there at Geelong after I confirm it with the owner – my wife.”
Though stepping back in distance at Geelong, McArdle is happy enough that the filly showed she can get that bit further.
“She’s a homebred and the best type that the mare has had so far,” McArdle said.
“But she does a fair bit wrong and we’ve had a couple out of the mare who didn’t run 1200m, which we were a bit concerned about, but she seemed strong enough the other day.
“She’s still new but has very good tactical speed. They went slowly at Mornington and then she kicked.
“As Jett (Stanley)said, she put them to the sword and won by as far as she wanted.
“It will be interesting to see with a bit more pressure in the race what she does.”
Jamie Mott will ride Divine Dot 1kg overweight at 55.5kg in the Geelong Diamond with the pair to jump from the outside alley in the field of nine, where fellow debut winners Torture, Golden Pulse and Moana Spirit are among her rivals.