2YO opens winning double for Almanzor

A two-year-old son of Almanzor made a bold statement on debut at Werribee when he led off a winning double for our shuttle stallion.

The Ben and JD Hayes-trained Rise At Dawn attracted strong support off the back of three encouraging jump-outs and he handled the heavy going well to deliver in style over 1400 metres.

“The Hayes boys have been very supportive of me so it was nice to get the job done for them,” successful rider Daniel Stackhouse said.

Two races later, Almanzor three-year-old Zilzie Lad overcame a wide run to open his winning account in his first attempt over 1600 metres.

Rise At Dawn was quickly into stride and trailed third on the fence and was ridden along before the turn to get into contention.

“He felt quite green travelling behind other horses, but once I got him into clear running he went through his gears well,” Stackhouse said.

Rise At Dawn hit the front 300 metres from home and surged clear to win by three and a-quarter lengths.

“He was stargazing down the straight so there is plenty of improvement to come, he’s going to make a really nice horse,” Stackhouse said.

The chestnut was bred by Monovale Holdings and sold by them at the Inglis Melbourne Premier Yearling Sale to Lindsay Park Racing for A$90,000.

Rise At Dawn is a son of Towkay’s daughter Kay’s Awake, a talented mare who won the Listed Newmarket Handicap and twice placed in Group 1 editions of the Telegraph Handicap and the Waikato Draught Sprint.