Able Friend Half-Bro Lands Belated Debut

Able Engine (Aus) (Dalakhani {Ire}), a half-brother to former Hong Kong Horse of the Year Able Friend (Aus) (Shamardal), made the most of his belated introduction to the races with a narrow success Saturday afternoon at Ipswich.

Sent off the 5-2 second choice, Able Engine jumped on terms and was with the leaders through the opening exchanges before easing back into a stalking third. The 3-year-old gelding lost a bit of ground at the five-furlong marker, but was back into the bridle and on the attack down the side at the 800m. Pulled out to deliver his challenge in earnest entering the final 300 metres, Able Engine had his head cocked noticeably to the left and hit the front with a sixteenth of a mile to go, then managed to find the wire first despite racing greenly late (video).

Whereas Able Friend was bred in Queensland, Able Engine was bred in New South Wales by C. Lawlor, who acquired the siblings' dam Ponte Piccolo (NZ) (Volksraad {GB}) in foal to Manhattan Rain (Aus) for A$35,000 at the Inglis Easter Broodmare Sale in 2013. Able Engine was consigned to the 2016 Inglis Easter Yearling Sale by Fairview Park Stud and was hammered down to Magus Equine on behalf of Hong Kong owner C H Ngai for A$200,000.