30 Apr 2022Deepstrike emphasised his versatility at Hawkesbury where he completed an impressive hat-trick of wins for trainers Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr.
It was our homebred son of Tavistock’s first attempt right-handed and on a testing Heavy 9 track, but he passed with flying colours on both fronts over 1800 metres.
The four-year-old had been successful in his previous two outings at Sandown and Caulfield and with five wins from 13 appearances is fashioning a tidy record for his connections, which includes high-profile owner Rupert Legh.
Rider Hugh Bowman settled Deepstrike sixth on the outer and they burst between runners in the straight with a stout finishing effort to claim top honours.
“He got into a beautiful rhythm throughout the race and I got pushed out at the top of the straight,” Bowman said.
“I bided my time to stay behind the bunch and I was beginning to question my decision before I got a run and the horse was very courageous in the last 200 metres.”
Deepstrike was purchased by Price out of our 2019 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft for $280,000 and is a son of the placed Zabeel mare Obey, also the dam of multiple winner Group 3 performer Zabay.
Obey is a half-sister to the G2 Concorde Handicap winner Taimana and they hail from the famed Eight Carat family, with the Blue Hen mare their fourth dam.