Rosehill Guineas Triumph for It's a Dundeel

Exciting colt It’s a Dundeel (3c High Chaparral x Stareel, by Zabeel) was poetry in motion as he smashed his rivals right out of the park to win the Group I ATC Rosehill Guineas at Rosehill on Saturday as he pleased. A last start winner of the Group I ATC Randwick Guineas, the Murray Baker trained colt was sent out a red hot favourite for this 2000 metre test, but few could have predicted just how dominant he would be. Ridden by James McDonald, who has partnered him in every race he’s had, It’s a Dundeel settled perfectly near the tail of the field and when asked to go forward coming to the turn, did so with an electric turn of foot. He cruised around the field and then found another gear down the running, surging clear to win by nearly seven lengths from the Group I New Zealand Two Thousand Guineas winner Sacred Falls. The win was a triumph for horse, jockey and trainer, who have transformed a promising spring three year-old into an autumn superstar. “He’s been working well and has just kept improving since the spring,” said Murray Baker. “That’s a bit of the Zabeel coming out in him I think, they just take a while to get going. “He has a big sprint and he can sustain it a long way. He’s right up there with the best horses I’ve trained such as The Phantom and Nom du Jeu.” Despite the ease of his win, connections will not be tempted to take on older rivals in the Group I ATC The BMW next Saturday at weight-for-age over 2400 metres. “The Derby has always been our mission all the way through,” Baker added. Not offered at auction and raced by a large syndicate of owners, It’s a Dundeel has the impressive record of seven wins and a second from 10 starts with prizemoney in excess of $.1 million. “He’s the best horse I’ve ever sat on,” declared an elated James McDonald. “He was breathtaking. My horse was clearly the best horse, I just wish Fiveandahalfstar (scratched) had been in it.” A half-brother to stakes-placed Twoeezy, he is one of five winners from Zabeel mare Stareel, who is a daughter of Group I New Zealand Oaks winner Staring. High Chaparral has a big draft of 38 of the 2013 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale.