Irish import repays the faith in Belle of the Turf

Cover image courtesy of Ashlea Brennan

The Gosford Race Club hosted the G3 Belle of the Turf S. and Listed Gosford Guineas on Wednesday afternoon, racing in perfect sunshine on a Good 4.

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The Group 3 event was the sixth race on the card, and it attracted a bumper field for the fillies and mares with no less than 14 horses going to post. They included the co-favourites Deny Knowledge (Ire), a daughter of Pride Of Dubai, and Lekvarte (NZ) by Reliable Man (GB).

Deny Knowledge had travelled to Gosford from her base at Cranbourne, a confident decision by her trainer, Michael Kent. It proved a good one because the 5-year-old mare ran away with the race at a very early point, posting a 2.56l victory with jockey Josh Richards.

She led home the Chris Waller pair Thalassophile (Not A Single Doubt) and She’s The Gift (NZ) (Power {GB}), with Gary Portelli’s Ruby Tuesday (Deep Field) finishing fourth. The mile was ticked over in 1:36.26, the last 600 metres in 35.17s.

Deny Knowledge is raced in the colours of Adrian Whittingham’s Honeycomb Stud. She was imported to Australia in November 2021 after 10 starts on British tracks, then trained by John Quinn in North Yorkshire. She won two races in that time, one at Redcar and another at Newcastle, but her form was consistently good.

The mare is a daughter of The Paris Shrug (GB) (Manduro {Ger}), who is a half-sister to the G1 Royal Ascot Gold Cup winner Big Orange (GB) (Duke Of Marmalade {Ire}). This is the same family as Red Cadeaux (GB) (Cadeaux Genereux {GB}), so there is plenty to recognise and plenty of stamina.

Deny Knowledge has now raced seven times in Australia for two wins and a second. Her victories have come at Caulfield in May and at Gosford on Wednesday, and she was second in the Ballan Cup at Geelong in November.

Before Wednesday, she was last seen when fourth in the G3 Summoned S., so it was no surprise that Kent had the confidence to tackle the Belle of the Turf.

“It was probably a plot hatched by Adrian (Whittingham),” said trainer Nikki Burke, who was representing Kent on track. “It was a race he had picked out for her. She’s a really good doer, a good traveller and she came up here in really good order. She travelled like she was never going to lose today.”

Deny Knowledge had a comfortable lead for much of the race on Wednesday, which wasn’t a surprise to Burke.

“She doesn’t slow down, this horse,” the trainer said. “She’s got a really high cruising speed and she keeps it up. She’s hard to stop. Josh (Richards) really gets along well with her and he just clicks with her. It’s fantastic for him to get a Group 3 win.”

Burke said Deny Knowledge had acclimatised well since her arrival to Australia, albeit it wasn’t immediate.

“She’s an Irish mare and since she came over, she’s got better and better,” Burke said. “She’s obviously acclimatised now and each run she’s had she just seems to get better and step it up.

“She’s a valuable mare now and it was great for her to get black type. It was worth the trip. It’s made her and it’s great for the owner and great for everyone involved at home.”

A bargain at Goffs

Deny Knowledge was bought by Adrian Whittingham for just €26,000 (AU$40,900) in October 2019. She was Lot 513 at the Goffs Sportman’s Yearling Sale.

She was consigned by Kilcairn Stud and bought for Whittingham by Peter and Ross Doyle Bloodstock as part of a buying strategy that the Honeycomb Stud principal has had in place for a number of years.

“We buy a couple in Ireland and the UK every year with the aim of bringing them to Australia after their 3-year-old season up there,” Whittingham said, speaking to TDN AusNZ. “We bought this mare as a yearling, thinking she’d be very well-suited to Australian conditions. She likes firm tracks, she’s very fast and she’s out of a very strong staying family, so we knew she’d get a very strong mile.”

At €26,000, Deny Knowledge didn’t break the bank. Whittingham attributes that to a bit of market uncertainty about Pride Of Dubai at the time.

“She was an excellent type but I think it was just that Pride Of Dubai back then in the Northern Hemisphere wasn’t that well-known, and there weren’t many willing to take a risk on her,” he said.

For Whittingham, it was a good news story because not only has the stallion kicked on at stud, but Deny Knowledge seems to have justified her owner’s faith in her pedigree. Whittingham is in the horse with his good friends John O’Rourke and Greg Fagan, and between them they liked what they saw.

“The three of us tend to look for horses with a bit more stamina, rather than horses with pure speed,” he said. “So we thought Pride Of Dubai was a very fast 2-year-old, but being by Street Cry, we thought he’d get her over a trip. And then on the female tail, she’s got very strong stamina. That was the rationale.”

Where to next?

Whittingham picked out the G3 Belle of the Turf S. in line with a campaign through the Summoned S. When Deny Knowledge was fourth in the latter, it proved an interesting data situation because it was the third-fastest mile result at Caulfield for the year.

On this information, Whittingham worked out that Deny Knowledge was well-ahead by form of the previous 10 winners of the Belle of the Turf S., so even though it was five weeks between drinks, the mare was kept fit and floated north.

“We went to Gosford today (Wednesday) knowing that if she raced to her form, she would be incredibly hard to beat and that’s what happened,” Whittingham said. “We were a bit nervous actually because the pattern of the whole day had seemed to be against leaders, but she was just too good.”

Deny Knowledge provided her jockey, Josh Richards, with a much-deserved Group win, which has given Whittingham as much delight as the victory itself.

“Josh knows this mare so well and she loves him, so good on him for sticking with her,” the owner said.

Where they go next with Deny Knowledge isn’t yet decided.

“To be honest, we have not looked beyond today,” Whittingham said. “The times she’s been running suggests she’s Group 1 quality, but we hadn’t even been black type-placed before this result, so we wanted to put that out of our minds and get past today. It was only her third run for the preparation so it’s still a really good question.”

As for broodmare value, Deny Knowledge has ticked that off and it was an important, permanent acquisition. The mare is still only five years old, but it’s logical to wonder if Whittingham, who only recently sold his share in Verry Elleegant (NZ) (Zed {NZ}) and who retained the Group 3 winner Le Lude (Lope De Vega {Ire}), will hang onto Deny Knowledge for breeding.

“For a lot of the horses we have at Honeycomb, we own them outright,” he said. “But we own this mare with two of my good mates, so I’d love to retain her as a broodmare but I’m only one of three decision-makers. I feel very lucky to be in that position, though, because this mare is a great type. She’s a beautiful horse and every time she’s goes out to race, we just want her to come home safe.

“If we get the chance to retain and breed, fantastic. If not, there are so many other wonderful breeders out there that will do a good job with her.”