Cover image courtesy of Western Racepix
Deel Her In was the cheapest Dundeel (NZ) filly to be sold at the 2023 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sales when purchased by Peter Morley’s Belhus Racing and John Price Bloodstock for $110,000 from the draft of Segenhoe Stud. However, she sent her shares skyward with an outstanding last-to-first victory in Saturday’s hotly contested 3-year-old feature.
Jockey Shaun O’Donnell took no part in the in the race early, snagging the filly to last from barrier 7. The race was run at a sedate pace, which looked unfavourable to the back markers. Nonetheless, Deel Her In quickly slid around the field on the home bend and took the lead shortly thereafter, racing away to win by 0.79l over Flower of Gold (Bull Point), with a further 0.71l back to All Grunt (Grunt {NZ}), who had defeated her at their previous outing.
“It was a really good job in a slowly run race,” trainer Trevor Andrews said.
“We just had to go back. The plan is to go up to 1800 metres next start so the plan today was to find a bum and relax.
“She tracked into the race following All Grunt and Shaun just produced her at the right time. She was a little bit soft on the line, it was a very impressive win. She’s a very good filly.”
The next logical step in the preparation will be the Group 2 Ascot 1000 Guineas over 1800 metres on March 9, before possibly going to the G3 WA Oaks over 2400 metres via the Listed Natasha Stakes over 2100 metres, and Andrews says he will make some training adjustments to help her relax.
“Her pedigree says she will get a trip all day. She just needs to learn to switch off a bit more. Once she got behind them today she was actually pretty good,” he said.
“We will just lengthen her work a little bit and just go about things quietly. It’s only her first campaign but she’s a Dundeel filly with a massive pedigree now with a stakes win next to her name.”
“It’s only her (Deel Her In) first campaign but she’s a Dundeel filly with a massive pedigree now with a stakes win next to her name.” - Trevor Andrews
Shaun O’Donnell was eager to see what the future has in store for him and the lightly raced filly.
“Today I thought, we’re going – I want to be right on top of them at the corner because she has got such a big tank at trackwork, she just keeps going,” O’Donnell said.
“She’s an amazing filly, what’s inside her is a little bit scary.
“ She’s a busy filly and she just wants to try her heart out all the time. It’s a pleasure riding her.”
Share prices on the rise
Syndicator, Peter Morley was ecstatic with the result, sharing that he didn’t think she could win after settling at the tail of the field.
“It was a stunning victory. One person there who has been around longer than me said it was ‘Winx-like’,” Morley said.
“It was off a slow pace too and she has come home in 34.20. That was only her fourth start in a race. She bolted in first-up, she had no luck second-up and the start before yesterday I thought he just got to the front a bit too early and the other horse got us but yesterday was very good.
“I didn’t think she’d win when she settled last but goodness me she picked them up like they were all glued to the fence. It was obviously very visually impressive.”
“I didn’t think she’d (Deel Her In) win when she settled last but goodness me she picked them up like they were all glued to the fence. It was obviously very visually impressive.” - Peter Morley
The immediate impact on the value of filly was made clear by a number of bloodstock agents registering their interest to purchase her post-race.
“We’ve just talked about upping her insurance,” Morley said.
“There has been a little bit of outside interest from agents but I’ve told them she’s not for sale. When you divide it between 20 or 40 owners, it’s not going to change anyone’s life. She’ll stay in the current ownership and they are going to have an absolute ball with her over the next few years and then I’m sure she will find a nice home at some commercial farm.”
Despite some concern over her ability to settle in the run, Morley has every confidence that trainer Trevor Andrews is the right man for the job.
Peter Morley | Image courtesy of Western Racepix
“I’m almost certain that if I was framing a market for the 1000 Guineas, she’d be starting odds-on,” Morley said.
“We are conscious however, that this is her first racing prep. So, as soon as she tells us she’s had enough, that will be it. We’ll turn her out and save her for another campaign. Trevor has done it before, getting fillies to the Natasha and the Oaks, of course he trained Natasha, so we have every confidence he will give her every chance.”
A savvy Easter purchase
Bred by Segenhoe Stud, Deel Her In became the fifth winner and second stakes winner from Mining Tycoon (Redoute’s Choice), who has also produced Listed winner Usmanov (Choisir). Mining Tycoon is a half-sister to three time Group 1 winning sprinter Bentley Biscuit (Peintre Celebre {USA}) and its the family of Snitzel and Thorn Park.
It was Morley’s first purchase at the Inglis Australian Easter Sale, after being tipped off about the filly by bloodstock agent John Price.
Deel Her In as a yearling | Image courtesy of Inglis
“If you go to buy a Dundeel filly at Easter and you pick her up for $110,000, it is a little bit surprising,” Morley said.
“John Price, who buys a lot of horses for us said, I’ve found a nice filly here, and that was that. I don’t know what it is about John, but he sees something in a horse that others don’t see and he’s proven it time and time again. We trust his judgement.
“John was poking around and must have spoken to the vendor and found out it was around my ballpark figure. Usually, around $120,000 for a yearling see me out. We’re not one of the high-flyers, we just sneak under the radar, so you won’t see me putting my hand up at $300,000 or $400,000. He knew it was in our budget and thought it was a nice horse and luckily we agreed to buy it.
“It’s the only horse I’ve ever bought from Easter, so we’re one from one.”
Dundeel fillies on the rise
Deel Her In also became the 35th individual stakes winner for Dundeel, completing a weekend stakes double for the sire’s 3-year-old daughters with the Lindsay Park-trained Cinch blowing her rivals away as favourite in the Listed Tasmanian Oaks over 2100 metres on Friday night.
This continues a promising spate of stakes-winning fillies for the sire, including the Clinton McDonald-trained Jasmin Rouge who won the G3 Thoroughbred Club of Australia Stakes in November and the Chris Waller-trained Konasana, who added the G2 Westbury Classic to her resumé at Ellerslie in January.
Dundeel has historically produced a disproportionately high number of stakes-winning colts and geldings when compared to fillies, siring 25 stakes winning males and 10 stakes winning females over the course of his career to date.
However, as his career continued to evolve this is beginning to even out - six colts and five fillies have performed in stakes races this season - so targeting fillies could provide buyers with some incredible buying opportunities.
At the 2023 Inglis Easter Yearling Sales Dundeel fillies averaged $190k from six sold, with another six lots passed in. The colts on the other hand averaged $338,750 from 16 sold, with only one passed in. Furthermore, two of those fillies offered, Cinch and Deel Her In, became very valuable stakes winners this weekend. There has been one stakes performer from the colts division so far in Henlein.
Dundeel (NZ) | Standing at Arrowfield Stud
Morley shared that he particularly likes sourcing fillies for their residual value and for that reason didn’t flinch when offered the well-bred Deel Her In as a yearling.
“I particularly like buying fillies because you have that safety net at the end,” he said.
“If they perform well to some degree, you can actually turn them over and get good money as a broodmare prospect which is akin to winning another race. For example, we’ve sold horses like Majestic Shot for $220,000 and It’s Me $350,000. Even though we have done well with colts and geldings, fillies do appeal with that extra safety net.
“Deel Her In has got a big future, which might be the understatement of the year. She could end up being a very valuable mare down the track.”
On track for a stellar year
Belhus Racing, the longest-serving racehorse syndication company in Western Australia, has enjoyed a strong start to the year, which was kicked off by the victory of Hemlock Stone (NZ) (Dalghar {Fr}) in the Group 2 Perth Cup on January 1st at odds of $81.
Hemlock Stone (NZ) | Image courtesy of Western Racepix
“The harder I work the luckier I get,” Morley said.
“Let’s hope we can keep it going. It’s going to be a very exciting next couple of weeks.”
