By Tom Frary
2nd-Kempton, £11,000, Novice, 7-9, 2yo, f, 6f (AWT), 1:13.92, st/sl.
DANDANA (GB) (f, 2, Blue Point {Ire}–Nafaayes {Aus} {MGSW & MG1SP-SAf}, by Exceed And Excel {Aus}), sent off the 7-2 joint-second favourite, showed a professional attitude from the break to lead. Always in control, the newcomer stayed on to score by half a length from Inside Story (Siyouni).
“She's quite a nice filly, but the surface is riding very slow and I probably could have done with a lead until the last furlong,” jockey Harry Davies said of the winner, a 600,000gns Tattersalls October Book 1 purchase.
“She was having a good look around and had her ears pricked towards the line and I'm sure that whatever she's done today she'll improve on. She's a big, leggy filly who has plenty of scope and it wouldn't surprise me if she went a little bit further. She covers a lot of ground and does it all pretty easily.”
The dam, who captured the G2 Gauteng Fillies Guineas and G2 Ipi Tombe Challenge and was placed in the G1 SA Fillies Classic and G1 Empress Club Stakes, is a daughter of the GIII Debutante Stakes winner Decelerator (Dehere) who is also responsible for the Hong Kong Group 3 scorer Stoltz (More Than Ready). Also connected to the G2 Arrowfield Three Year Old Sprint runner-up Hedged (Capitalist), her yearling colt is by Kingman.
Sales history: 110,000gns Wlg '23 TADEWE; 600,000gns Ylg '24 TATOCT. Lifetime Record: 1-1-0-0, $8,074.
O-Sultan Ali; B-O S Tait Pty Limited; T-Simon & Ed Crisford.
600,000gns buy Dandana (Blue Point) is not for passing on debut for @gainsboroughHQ @kemptonparkrace pic.twitter.com/V5JZzDyZvW
— Racing TV (@RacingTV) July 9, 2025
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