News

Graham hunts another baby bonus with talented Leviosa

25th Jul 2011

Sydney Morning Herald - Craig Young - Monday, 25 July 2011

JENNY GRAHAM might not have the oil-fuelled backing of Sheikh Mohammed's Darley Stud operation but the trainer is doing a fine job on the two-year-old front.

Graham made the 4½-hour trip back to Port Macquarie on Saturday evening content with the effort of $6500 buy Alcancia, which ran second at Warwick Farm.

It was the race just after Darley Stud's head trainer, Peter Snowden (pictured), led in a two-year-old quinella with Bello beating home the debutant Barbados. Another Darley juvenile, Pied A Terre, remained unbeaten after winning at Flemington just before Bello and Barbados fought it out.

It was the 41st two-year-old race win this season for the Darley operation. There have been 25 individual winners. Darley cleaned up all five group 1 races for two-year-olds as Sepoy took out the Blue Diamond-Golden Slipper double, Helmet the Sires' Produce and Champagne Stakes at Randwick, and Benfica won the TJ Smith in Brisbane. Snowden said 140 rising two-year-olds had gone through the Darley structure in preparation for the new racing season. Graham has 14 horses in work, and she'll return to Rosehill on Saturday with another baby.

Alcancia collected $13,300 for finishing second and took her prizemoney tally to $119,150. Graham's unbeaten juvenile, Leviosa, is out for a bumper pay day at Rosehill on Saturday in a two-year-olds' race carrying a $100,000 William Inglis bonus. Alcancia picked up one when winning at the Scone Cup meeting, while Leviosa, a $14,000 buy, collected a similar bonus when victorious at the recent Grafton Cup carnival.

The Rosehill race carries prizemoney of $70,000 and there is a $20,000 BOBS incentive to be claimed. Graham has again booked Robert Thompson, who has won more races than any Australian jockey.

''We do not get the chance very often to run in races worth this much,'' Graham said yesterday. ''Most of the time you don't have a horse to have a go at them. It is a great incentive and it is good to have a little horse at least capable of having a try for that money. It has been overwhelming for me to win two Inglis bonuses already.''

Alcancia and Leviosa were bought out of last year's William Inglis yearling sale at Scone. Both appealed to Graham, whose parents, Janice and Barry Avery, share in the ownership of the pair.

''She [Leviosa] was a very fine filly and still is at the moment,'' Graham said. ''She walked out lovely, good mannerism about her. A nice little type of filly.''

Graham thought Leviosa would need time to mature and ''take a little longer as a two-year-old'' but the filly has surprised. ''She has done a good job,'' she said. ''Her mother was supposedly quick as a two-year-old. Leviosa has been in and out a few times with shin soreness. She is still a little immature She has strengthened up as she has gone along, she is doing nicely.''

Leviosa has won her three races by a combined margin of 8.1 lengths and her victory at Grafton was from the outside barrier, 11.

''She pulled up terrific from the run at Grafton,'' Graham said. ''Robert is happy with both of them. As funny as it sounds, he said, 'I just don't know, both are going as well as each other.' She [Leviosa] is going well enough to have a try in this particular race.''

The performance of Alcancia, which has won three from five outings, has given Graham added confidence heading into the Rosehill meeting.

''The other one [Alcancia] would be as competitive as this one, I feel,'' she said. ''We'll give it a try and see how we go.''

Graham may also put Playful Miss on the float. The filly won a race at Canterbury in December. ''She'll have a gallop through the week and we'll make up our mind,'' Graham said. Playful Miss has won four from eight, with Thompson on board in each of those wins. He and Graham are proving formidable.