Bendigo Daily Double

It was a great day at the office – Bendigo racetrack – on Wednesday, the stable cheering on two very nice horses to victories, Ballymore claiming both legs of the daily double.

The first of our winning duo was the always honest Devonshire Duke who has been racing in great heart this campaign, the six-year-old recording his second win from his last three starts.

Successful at Morphettville in mid-July, the son of Keeper was a gallant Moonee Valley third before heading to Bendigo where he was given a good ride by Damien Thornton.

Settling third behind the leaders along the rails, Devonshire Duke did not however travel perfectly – Thornton reporting that he “didn’t relax at all, he wanted to pull quite hard.”

But it didn’t matter at the finish, Devonshire Duke hooking out into the clear at the top of the straight and wearing down the leaders after they had kicked off the turn.

“He did well to finish as hard as he did,” Thornton said.

Michael Moroney was full of praise for Devonshire Duke who has now won six races and over $160,000 in stakes.

“He has been a great money spinner for his owners,” he said, “and he comes back every preparation and wins a race or two.”

Noting that Devonshire Duke is “racing in the best form of his career,” Moroney noted that the gelding does hail from a family who improve with maturity – “it is a good old New Zealand family where it is a case of the more time the better.”

“He has had a few little soundness issues in the past,” he continued, “but he has matured out of them now.”

We did not have to wait long for our next winner and an impressive won it was too – Yesterday’s Songs (pictured) at just his fourth start recording his second very smart victory.

Settling midfield for champion rider Damien Oliver, the exciting four-year-old was held up briefly turning but once clear he was strong to the line – hitting the front at the 150m and racing away to salute by a soft 2½ lengths.

“It was a nice, comfortable win,” said Oliver, “he travelled well, cruised through and put the race beyond doubt pretty quickly, displaying a nice turn of foot.”

Moroney was also impressed, noting that he was very happy with “the way he relaxed and the way in which he was able to pull away from them at the finish.”

“We have always rated this horse quite highly,” he said. “He has had a couple of hiccups along the way but he is a very good horse in the making.”

“He will go through his classes and hopefully at the end of it he is a lightweight chance in something nice.”