News

Irish Bet proves a winner in Inglis Nursery

16th Dec 2017

Irish Bet will follow a proven path to Golden Slipper success following his debut win in today’s $500,000 Inglis Nursery at Randwick.

Irish Bet (Smart Missile x Dublin Me Bet) powered away to a dominant victory this afternoon in a race where two of the past four winners – She Will Reign and Mossfun - have trained on to Golden Slipper glory.

He had trialled only once leading into the Nursery and showed true style in scoring an easy win.

He will now be given a short break before being aimed at the $3.5m Group 1 Golden Slipper at Rosehill on March 24.

Irish Bet was a $55,000 buy for Mick Flanagan of the China Horse Club from this year’s Australian Easter Yearling Sale, where he was offered by Middlebrook Valley Lodge.

China Horse Club’s International Racing and Breeding Manager Michael Wallace described today’s victory as “professional’’.

“He showed us a lot of ability from day one but two-year-old’s off one trial you never know until you see them in action,’’ Wallace said.

“He was a lovely horse, was always going to be a good 2YO type, he just had everything we look for in a 2YO type.

“He was a no-brainer. The only thing that was wrong with him was he was half price.’’

Irish Bet’s victory was also John O’Shea’s first Stakes victory since he returned to training outright following a stint as Godolphin’s head trainer.

For long-time Sydney breeder Barry Broomhead – who bred Irish Bet with Jim Knox - the decision to send his mare Dublin Me Bet to Arrowfield stallion Smart Missile has proven an instant success.

“I just liked Smart Missile, he was well priced, he had great sectionals in some of his racing, he was very fast and I just thought he would work for us, and also my son is a great friend of and went to school with (Arrowfield’s) Paul Messara,’’ Broomhead said.

The supplier (Broomhead and Knox) and vendor (Middlebrook Valley Lodge) of Irish Bet both received a $50,000 bonus for the win, while O’Shea won a pair of Swarovski Optik binoculars for winning an Inglis Race Series event.