News

Dunn weaves winning path with Defcon

27th Aug 2016

Racing.com - Carl Di Iorio - Saturday, 27 August 2016

Dwayne Dunn produced a victorious rail-hugging ride aboard Defcon in Saturday's $150,000 Group 3 H.D.F. McNeil Stakes (1200m) giving Peter and Paul Snowden a feature race running double.

Defcon ($7.50) consigned Vain Stakes runner-up Highland Beat ($4.80) to another silver medal finish, winning by 1.25 lengths with Wazzenme ($10) a further half-head away in third.

Defcon ran the quickest closing splits of the race, his final 200 metres in 11.53 seconds.

Highland Beat and Wazzenme both ran their final 200 metres in 11.86 seconds, the next best of the race.

The eye-catching run from those outside the placegetters came from the fifth-placed Revolving Door who broke 35 seconds for his final 600 metres, a feat achieved also by Defcon and Wazzenme.

The Snowdens earlier combined with Mark Zahra to win the Group 3 Resimax Stakes (1100m) with Redzel, and could have found their ideal back-up for juvenile champion Capitalist with Defcon.

Snowden said Defcon was like Capitalist in that he was a pure sprinter and as such, was likely to end up against his more famous stablemate in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes on the opening day of the Flemington spring carnival.

And just like the Golden Slipper winner Capitalist, Defcon is also raced by James Harron Bloodstock after he purchased the horse as a yearling for $340,000 from Sun Stud at the 2015 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.

Snowden described Defcon's finishing sprint as being "brutal" and "lethal" and said the horse was likely to go through the Danehill Stakes at Flemington on September 10 before a decision is made about whether he tackles the older sprinters in the Group 1 Manikato Stakes at Moonee Valley.

As for Capitalist, he will remain in Sydney for the time being and will race next in the Roman Consul Stakes on October 1 at Randwick.