Promising Present Arms

What a privilege it was to win a race with a horse bred by the legendary Sir Patrick Hogan - and a promising horse he is too, the lightly raced Present Arms so strong at Bendigo on Thursday.

Settling well back in the 1600m (his first run at the trip) maiden, the son of Cambridge Stud legend Zabeel (pictured) travelled nicely for Jamie Mott but did not have a great deal of room approaching the turn.

However as the field panned for home a split came and Present Arms was keen to take it - joining the lead at the 300m and finding plenty to salute by a soft ¾ length.

A NZ $250,000 purchase by Paul Moroney at the 2011 Karaka Sale, Present Arms - who has had just three starts - is raced by R & C Legh Racing Pty Ltd (manager Rupert Legh), Gurners Bloodstock Co (manager Andrew Ramsden), GG Syndicate Ltd (manager Gerard Peterson), Richard Smith, Roberto Scheriani, Dr John & Anna Kennedy, Harold & Carol Hansen, Lorraine McKenna, Peter Zeccola and the ARK Syndicate.

Paul recalls that Present Arms was "the most scopy Zabeel of his year at Karaka. Unusually he had no black type under his first three dams but he was a cracking individual from a great dam line and I thought he'd be a potential Cups horse. That now looks a distinct possibility."

From Cambridge Stud's most famous family, Present Arms has as his fourth dam the Group One mare Diamond Lover - dam of the big race winners Tristalove and Don Eduardo and daughter of the mighty Eight Carat.