Written by Georgie Dennis
The Team Hawkes-trained Vandoula Lass (Vancouver) got her racing career off to the best possible start as she posted an impressive victory on debut in the Clanbrooke Racing H. at Sandown on Wednesday.
The 2-year-old filly, who is raced by Orbis Bloodstock, jumped from barrier two under Craig Williams and drove up to sit outside Godolphin’s Translation (Frosted {USA}) throughout the run before accelerating at the 100-metre mark to go on and win by 2.75l.
Wayne Hawkes said he was confident the filly would come to the races and get the job done and that’s what she did.
“At the end of the day I said to Shane Anderson once, ‘Deep Field will just win’ and that was in a Lightning S. and he got beat so I’ll never say that again but we did come here today and think that she’d win,” the co-trainer told Racing.com after the race.
“You saw at the top of the straight, Craig was waiting for Damien (Oliver) to go and Damien was waiting for Craig to go. It was quite good, I was just there having a little chuckle to myself, it’s always easy when there’s no pressure.”
"At the top of the straight, Craig was waiting for Damien (Oliver) to go and Damien was waiting for Craig to go. It was quite good, I was just there having a little chuckle to myself, it’s always easy when there’s no pressure.” - Wayne Hawkes
Hawkes complimented the filly’s relaxed nature and said she still has plenty of improvement to come off the back of her first trip to the races.
“She’s an absolute dream, she walked into the mounting enclosure and walked around like she owned the joint and looked like a 5-year-old gelding,” he said.
“It’s always great when a 2-year-old has got the ability and got the right attitude because we’ve all had the 2-year-olds before that have got the right ability but don’t have the right attitude, but she’s got a great attitude this filly and she’ll only be better next time around again.
“She’s only just learning her trade and any 2-year-old that can get there and do it pre-Christmas, I think is doing a pretty good job because it’s never easy for any 2-year-old at any level to win before Christmas because they’re only babies.”
Vandoula Lass as a yearling
Vandoula Lass was purchased by Orbis Bloodstock for $70,000 at the Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale from the draft of KBL Thoroughbreds, but Hawkes said the R. Listed Magic Millions 2YO Classic is not on her radar and she is most likely to now head to the paddock.
“Someone at Orbis bought her and they paid $70,000 for her so they’re a good judge but she won’t get to the Gold Coast, we won’t worry about the Magic Millions with her.
“We never make a decision on race day but if we’re going to lean to the side of caution, we’ll probably put her out now.
“We’ll just see how she pulls up because with these horses, they tell you. She’ll either go home and tighten right up or she’ll go whoosh and if she goes whoosh, you might think about running her again.
“You never make a decision on race day but a grass paddock down on the Mornington peninsula looks pretty good at the moment.”
“You never make a decision on race day but a grass paddock down on the Mornington peninsula looks pretty good at the moment.” - Wayne Hawkes
Having recently trialled the filly, Williams said he too was confident she would perform on her first day at the races and was also very impressed by her nature.
“I got the opportunity to sit on her Friday week ago in a jump-out and I was just so impressed by her physique and most importantly her mannerisms,” the jockey said. “Wayne’s instructions were ‘don’t give her a C Williams squeeze, we already know she’s good, give her a Hawkes squeeze’.
“I was really happy with how she felt, they had two options for races and they found the weakest one to give her a great experience and she’s a really high-class filly with a great attitude.”
