[EARLIER: Honour The Bassett begins his career with a debut victory at Warracknabeal →]
Winning is satisfying.
Watching two of your horses cross the line first and second is something else entirely.
That was the result for Dalziel Racing and our owners at Darwin on Saturday, as Patriotic King led home stablemate Mr Marrakech for a Dalziel Racing quinella in the SBA Office National Handicap.
Both horses are trained in Darwin by Gary Clarke, making the result an especially satisfying reward for the partnership between our ownership groups and Gary’s team.
And Patriotic King wasn’t interested in making anyone wait long to see what he had planned.
With Jess Booth aboard, the seven-year-old went forward from the inside and established control of the 1100-metre contest. It’s a role the experienced gelding understands well, and Booth was happy to let him use it.
While the rest of the field chased, Patriotic King dictated.
He travelled comfortably in front through the middle stages before Booth asked him to increase the pressure approaching the home turn. Patriotic King responded immediately, pinned his ears back and began putting daylight between himself and his rivals.
He kept rolling all the way through the line for another convincing victory.
But this time we didn’t have to look very far behind him to find another reason to celebrate.
Mr Marrakech came home second, completing the quinella for Dalziel Racing.
That is the part of Saturday’s race that the replay alone doesn’t fully explain.
Both horses are part of our racing operation. Both are prepared by Gary Clarke and his Darwin stable, and both ownership groups were rewarded in the same race.
For Wylie and the Dalziel Racing team, relationships like the one with Gary are an important part of managing horses throughout their careers. Different horses thrive in different environments, and finding the right trainer, program and opportunities is part of the work that happens away from race day.
Saturday provided a pretty convincing result.
Patriotic King first. Mr Marrakech second. Gary Clarke training both.
Congratulations to Jess Booth, Gary and his entire team behind the scenes, and to the owners of both Patriotic King and Mr Marrakech.
Earlier in Victoria, our three-year-old Honour The Bassett had given us the excitement of watching a horse win on debut.
A few hours later in Darwin, two experienced members of the team gave us the pleasure of sharing the first two places.
Two very different ownership stories.
One memorable Saturday for Dalziel Racing.
[START WITH OUR FIRST WINNER: Honour The Bassett’s debut victory at Warracknabeal →]
If you’d like to experience the excitement of racehorse ownership and be part of a winning team, explore our current ownership opportunities at dalzielracing.com.
