Dashing Debonair displays his class
DAVID Hill unleashed yet another potential griffin star when Debonair destroyed his opposition in yesterday's opening event.
The son of promising Australian sire Zedative made virtually all the running to leave his rivals toiling - including Green Supreme, the first griffin winner of the season who jumped at 6-5 but could only plod home in fifth after rearing up as the stalls opened.
Hill's private purchase griffin had three-and-a-quarter lengths to spare over Men's Pride with a further three-and-a-half lengths back to debutant Wonderful who ran through beaten horses for third spot.
Debonair clocked an excellent 58.4 seconds for the dash down the straight 1,000-metre course which compares favourably with King Chariot's Class Four record for the distance of 58.1 seconds.
The griffin record for the straight 1,000 metres was set last season by Patrick Biancone's King Prawn when he clocked 57.8 seconds which is about three lengths faster than Debonair ran yesterday.
But then it should be remembered that King Prawn came into his record with a run under his belt and far more experience from trackwork sessions.
Furthermore, Debonair is still only two-years-old. Only Lucky Century had previously managed to score at that tender age.
The Basil Marcus-ridden Debonair had shown plenty of speed and looked a lovely individual during his work in the mornings but he had appeared to run out of condition over the closing stages of each of his trials.
Yesterday he went really strongly to the line as the well-backed Mighty Mighty and Through Train, who had shared the early speed, dropped out of contention.
Green Supreme was denied a fair start by the attentions of a handler in his stall who caused the heavily backed favourite to rear up and lose considerable ground as the stalls opened. He was never seen with a chance thereafter and also lugged in, making it very difficult for Danny Lee to ride him out.
