Stratheden Stud

Multidandy by 10 lengths at Sha Tin

February 7, 2004

Multidandy continued on his winning way on the All Weather Track at Sha Tin today, leading all the way over 1200m to win by 10 lengths.

This was win number four from thirteen starts and takes his earnings to $HK2,529,900.

Inglis Graduates in Hong Kong

February 7, 2004

Inglis Graduates captured a treble at Sha Tin on Saturday with winning performances by the Danehill (USA) pair MULTIDANDY (2000 Easter $200,000) and SAINT THOMAS (2001 Easter $600,000), plus a first time score for DONGGUAN victory (2001 Easter $380,000).

Consistent four year old Dongguan Victory produced a sensational last to first win for the David Hayes stable. The Octagonal (NZ) gelding drew out wide in gate 14 and was immediately dropped back to the tail of the field, before storming home down the extreme outside of the track to win the 1800 metre contest by half a length.

Dongguan Victory was purchased by astute bloodstock agent Mark Pilkington for $380,000 at the 2001 Australian Easter Yearling Sale. He was bred and offered for sale by Tyreel Thoroughbred Stud and is the second foal of the stakes-winner Macrosa (NZ), a half-sister to AJC Derby winner Ebony Grosve.

Enigmatic gelding Multidandy, has shown glimpses of brilliance in his 13 start career, winning four times and placing on a further five occasions, but he has seldom been more impressive than he was on Saturday.

The Tony Cruz trained speedster led all the way over 1200 metres in Class Two company on the all weather track and when Felix Coetzee gave him a shake up at the top of the straight he simply bounded away to win by nearly 10 lengths.

Such was the dominance of his power sprinting that it raised the possibility of an invitation to compete in the US$2 million Golden Shaheen over the straight 1,200 metres course on dirt in Dubai on March 27.

"Now that would be interesting," said Coetzee. "This horse loves the straight course and he proved today he loves the dirt and he was very strong at the end of 1,200 metres. I don't know what Tony has in mind but the Dubai race would be a very interesting option. Even with National Currency in the race, if this horse took today's form to Dubai he'd be competitive."

Vinery Australia as agent will offer a full brother to Multidandy at the 2004 Australian Easter Yearling Sale. The colt is of course by Danehill (USA) from the stakes-winner New Acquaintance (NZ), whose earlier foals include Blue Diamond winner Knowledge.

inglis.com.au

Multidandy emerges as a real threat to Silent Witness

February 7, 2004

Tony Cruz is in the enviable yet difficult position of having unearthed the horse most likely to give champion Silent Witness a scare, but is highly unlikely to blowtorch his second-string running machine Multidandy just yet.

Multidandy ($20) had his first start at 1,200 metres and his debut on the all-weather dirt track at Sha Tin, and dismissed the skeptics with an effortless 9 3/4 lengths win that could have been even bigger had jockey Felix Coetzee not been so kind in the latter stages.

Multidandy is a weightlifter among thoroughbreds. He tips the scales at 1,227 pounds and has muscles on his muscles. But any doubts about the equine powerpack not being able run further than 1,000 metres were erased instantly at the 250 metres mark of yesterday's race when Coetzee asked the question.

In a heartbeat, the turbocharger kicked in and the chasing brigade were embarrassed, as a two-length margin became six in a matter of strides. Then eight, then 10, before Coetzee began to drop anchor a full 12 strides from the finishing post and called an end to the exhibition.

While the Danehill gelding has quickly shown himself to be a superstar on dirt, he is now out of options on the artificial track because he'll rocket into Class One. And the Hong Kong Jockey Club does not run any Class One races at 1,200 metres on the all-weather circuit.

"I don't think that's an issue," Coetzee said later. "The way he cornered today, I'm sure he could now manage to take the turn over 1,200 metres on the grass track without any worries."

Once the Dubai Racing Club learns of the emergence of Multidandy as a sprinting force in Hong Kong, it will be no surprise to see the gelding issued with an invitation to compete in the US$2 million Golden Shaheen over the straight 1,200 metres course on dirt on Dubai World Cup night, March 27, at Nad al Sheba.

Favourite for the race will be National Currency, who emerged from his defeat at the hands of Silent Witness at Sha Tin on international day to win over 1,200 metres in Dubai on Thursday night, scoring by 6 1/2 lengths.

"Now that would be interesting," Coetzee continued. "This horse loves the straight course and he proved today he loves the dirt and he was very strong at the end of 1,200 metres. I don't know what Tony has in mind but the Dubai race would be a very interesting option. Even with National Currency in the race, if this horse took today's form to Dubai he'd be competitive."

In the wake of his near 10-length demolition of the Class Two field in the $1 million contest, Coetzee was forced to field the obvious question - how does Multidandy compare with Hong Kong's super sprinter Silent Witness, whose current scorecard reads nine from nine?

"Multidandy is a very talented sprinter and he's just come right, but I'd have no hesitation in saying Silent Witness would beat him. This horse had loads of talent, but Silent Witness is a freak ... and he has such a fighting heart as well," the jockey said.

Multidandy is a half-brother to former Melbourne Group One winning juvenile Knowledge (by Last Tycoon), both being from the Sydney Group winner New Acquaintance.

The gelding began his career with Tony Millard's stable and showed the same freakish ability in the mornings then as he does today, but wasn't able to convert the shadow to substance in races.

Now, as a five-year-old, he has the physical strength and maturity to go with that amazing raw speed. And two operations - one for gelding and the other for removal of a chip in one fetlock - have seen him finally able to show what he's got.

Owner Lyraa Ng Yin-mui was glowing in her praise of the job Cruz has done with Multidandy but said she would not be influencing the programming decisions for the speed demon. "I leave all of that to Tony," she summed up.

Last preparation, Multidandy won a Class Three race down the 1,000 metres straight course in a blistering (though wind-assisted) 55.4 seconds, with subsequent International Sprint Trial runner-up Cheerful Fortune a well-beaten third.

With all the established top-level sprinters having been repeatedly flogged by Silent Witness, it's ironic that the horse most likely to give him a contest should emerge from the same stable.

Silent Witness will have his next race in the $4.5 million Group One Centenary Sprint Cup over the straight 1,000 metres course on March 13. Victory there will see him equal Co-Tack's all-time Hong Kong record of 10 successive wins.

Could Multidandy prove the party pooper, or will Dubai come calling?

racing.scmp.com

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