She bowed out in style.
Mabel Grace running in her 41st race and carrying a 62kg impost showed her class with a lionhearted win in the Matchmaker Classic (1400m), running down the lightly weighted Red Hot Sax with Miss Tipsy Topsy next best.
It was Mabel Grace’s 10th victory and fifth listed race success, finishing with earnings of over $551,000 and has been a huge credit to her sire, the underrated Kendel Star.
Peter Knuckey gave the 6 year old chestnut mare, every opportunity, having her in fourth position throughout and being tracked by another Kendel Star sired galloper, Even Astar.
Knuckey has been in the saddle for half of her victories with Troy Turner and Peter Hall also having had success on her.
Did Knuckey have any worries in the race?
“She was off the bit at the 450m but when I gave her clear running (on the turn) she responded well and when she ran to the front I knew nothing was going to catch her. It was her best win in terms of quality of performance.”
Knuckey said that as he had won twice on Kendel Star, in Melbourne, he was looking forward to eventually riding Mabel Grace’s foals as a third generation.
Trainer Adam Durrant said the consistent mare, who has finished in the first three places in 26 of her 41 starts, would be serviced by leading sire, Blackfriars.
“She has never performed better than in her last campaign and this win was a credit to her. There is nothing left for her to prove accept to produce a good foal.”
The win was some compensation for owners David Elsegood and Cyril Holly as a full brother to Mabel Grace recently had to be put down.
“She is easily the best horse I have raced with a huge motor and a wonderful nature” Elsegood said.
With Mabel Grace’s victory Knuckey completed a back to back race double in races three and four.
He won the earlier race on the Simon Miller trained Hussy By Choice who fended off the fast finishing Back To A Walk, by half a length in the Westspeed Sprint (1200m).