10 Feb 2024Stable confidence in Almanzor’s daughter Dawla wasn’t misplaced at Newcastle.
Trained by Brad Widdup, the four-year-old had been a resuming winner at Wyong last month and she was expected to produce another bold showing over 1200 metres.
Our homebred mare drifted to the back of a small field before she was angled into the clear by apprentice Zac Waddick 350 metres from home and lengthened stride effortlessly to come over the top of her rivals.
“She had trained on very well and we asked Zac to ride her quietly,” stable representative Andre Rabbett said.
“She’s best left to her own devices early and can then really finish off.”
Now the winner of three of her 11 starts, Dawla was purchased out of our 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock National Yearling Sale draft for $70,000 by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo and Honeycomb Bloodstock.
She is out of the unraced Lucky Unicorn mare Satisfact, who is a half-sister to the multiple Group 1-winning siblings St Reims and Champagne, and the family of the two-time New Zealand Horse of the Year and multiple top-flight winner Bonneval.