By Kelsey Riley
Sense of Occasion entered Saturday's G1 Doomben Cup with some solid Sydney form behind him, having well outrun his odds when third in both features at The Championships: at 60-1 behind It's Somewhat (Dynaformer) in the G1 Doncaster Mile on Apr. 1 and at 150-1 behind Winx (Aus) (Street Cry {Ire}) in the G1 Queen Elizabeth S. a week later. The gelding dropped back to sixth, again behind It's Somewhat, in the G2 Hollindale S. at the Gold Coast on May 6, a loss jockey Corey Brown blamed on himself. Brown was determined to give Sense of Occasion a better ride on Saturday, and he was assigned a stiff task when the bay drew the wide outside gate. Reining him in after the break, Brown got Sense of Occasion over to save ground while near last running into the first bend as Auvray (Fr) (Lope de Vega {Ire}) showed the way from It's Somewhat on his outside. Sense of Occasion began to gradually make up ground as the field began to bunch closer together approaching the final turn, and was shaken up by Brown rounding the bend as It's Somewhat packed it in early on the front end. Swinging wide off the bend, Sense of Occasion put in a sustained rally largely under a hand ride down the middle of the track and hit the lead inside the 50 metre mark to win comfortably.
“I had to pull my socks up after the Hollindale S. at the Gold Coast when I gave him a bit of an ordinary ride,” Brown told Racenet.com.au. “When the Doomben Cup barrier draw came out and I saw he drew 18 out of 18, I knew I had to produce a good ride. Without wanting to sound too cocky when he got into a three-deep trail leaving the straight the first time I felt the race was as good as over because he was travelling that well. For about 50 metres on the home turn he came off the bridle but once we got into the straight I knew he'd pick them up because he's got an unbelievable finish.”
Pedigree Notes…
Sense of Occasion becomes the third Group 1 winner in Australia for his sire, following Hallowed Crown (Aus) and Politeness (Aus). His winning dam is a half to G1 Sir Rupert Clarke S. winner and G1 Thousand Guineas second Rewaaya (NZ) (Singspiel {Ire}), and G1 Cape Derby winner Ertijaal (Aus) (Hard Spun) appears under the third dam. Further down on the page are successful sires Snippets (Aus) (Lunchtime {GB}) and Not A Single Doubt (Aus) (Redoute's Choice {Aus}).
Saturday, Doomben, Australia
DOOMBEN CUP-G1, A$658,000, BRC, 5-20, Open WFA, 2000mT, 2:06.63, Heavy.
1-&SENSE OF OCCASION, 59.0, g, 6, by Street Sense (USA)
1st Dam: Saywaan, by Zabeel (NZ)
2nd Dam: Nasmah, by At Talaq (USA)
3rd Dam: Asawir, by Last Tycoon (IRE)
(A$80,000 Ylg 2012 WI Sydney Easter Yearling Sale) O-A J Hall,
D R S Hall, The Estate Of J W B Wragge, D W F Blunden, R F
Scott, L E Curtis & S M Bilich; B-Shadwell Stud Australasia Ltd
NSW; T-K A Lees; J-C W Brown; A$424,000. Lifetime Record:
34-8-6-3, A$1,691,020. Werk Nick Rating: A. Click for the
eNicks report & 5-cross pedigree.
2–Star Exhibit, 59.0, g, 5, Statue of Liberty (USA)–Star
Encounter, by Jeune (GB). O-Peters Investments Pty Ltd
Syndicate (Mgr: R J & Mrs S L Peters); B-Peters Investments Pty
Ltd WA; T-D K Weir; J-B Shinn; A$130,000.
3–Rudy, 59.0, g, 6, Red Dazzler–Go on Now Go, by Success
Express (USA). O-Dr T P Clarke, D A Clarke & D J Clarke; B-Dr TP
Clarke QLD; T-Ms H Page; J-Tim Clark; A$65,000.
Margins: 1.3 len, 1.5 len, 1.7 len. Odds: 8.00, 7.50, 30.00.
Also Ran: Amelie's Star, McCreery (GB), Single Gaze, Maurus (GB), Cylinder Beach (NZ), It's Somewhat (USA), Sound Proposition (NZ), Emphasis, Jessy Belle, Astronomos (GB), Articus (FR), Auvray (FR). Scratched: Benzini, Preferment (NZ), Vanbrugh.
Click for the Racing Post result or the free Equineline.com catalogue-style pedigree. VIDEO.
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