Don Chassis – finally a winner
After finishing second and third in his first two runs, Don Chassis (Performing Magic – Femme Doree) finally found the winning touch when he took home the Mercury Trophy on Saturday.
The five-furlong Mercury confined to three-year-old colts and geldings represented the second major set of races leading to the Classics. The race was run over five furlongs (1,000 metres) straight. The Eight Thirty Sprint (fillies only) also over five furlongs straight was decided on Saturday January 21. The winners of the two sections were Marlene My Love and Earth Angel.
Racing with the tongue tie off and the application of Lasix for the first time, Don Chassis, ridden by veteran Ian Spence, battled with Uncle Freddie (Dane Nelson) for the lead in the first half of the race.
Passing the dummy rails, Don Chassis then began to edge away from the field, winning rather comfortably by a length and a half in the end.
Silence (Richard Mitchell), who came on the scene late, tried to land a challenge in the last 100 metres but at the time Don Chassis was home already. Silence finished second. Milagro, the mount of Linton Steadman, also came late to earn third position.
Ruddy Levy (Superkids Racing Stables) owner of Don Chassis said the performance of his horse was an encouraging one.
“It was a good performance by Don Chassis to win today (Saturday) and running the distance is one minute flat is not too bad, it was encouraging. We will now leave the decision as to what will happen next to the trainer and see what happens,” Levy told the Complete Racing Guide.
Spence said that although the win was good, Don Chassis was not convincing.
“The performance by Don Chassis was alright, but it didn’t convince me one bit at all.
“I tried to get him (Don Chassis) to do a better last furlong and a half and he still gave me the same thing as the first part of the race and so he never impressed me.
“To me, he is more of a journey horse. He wants to go long,” Spence said.