Natalie McCall feared Red Doulton had run into a situation she had seen so many times before, but the filly is in such good form she was able to overcome it and win the Benchmark 70 (1500m) at Eagle Farm.
Red Doulton won her previous start at Caloundra, but before that had won just one of 16 starts, featuring in stewards’ reports 11 times, with the most common theme being “blocked for a run”.
“When she was running up behind them I thought ‘not again’ but fortunately she’s been able to overcome it,” McCall said.
Punters were obviously taken with her previous win, backing the filly into $3.70 from an opening quote of $4.80 and much bigger odds earlier in the week.
“She’s always had that kind of ability but it’s good to get some confidence into her,” the trainer said. “It was only a benchmark 70 today but she’s shown she’s capable of stepping up to better races on a Saturday now.”
The race was actually named the Nat McCall Racing Benchmark 70 after Red Doulton’s part-owners Platinum Bloodstock, who were sponsors on the day, nominated the Stradbroke-winning trainer’s name for this race.
“It just turned out it was the race (Red Doulton) happened to be in,” McCall said.
Courtesy of the Courier Mail 28th July 2019 – Nathan Exelby, Racing editor, The Sunday Mail (Qld)