Morning
Captain emerged a serious Triple Crown contender during the summer carnival
with an emphatic win at Doomben on Saturday.
The Kelly
Doughty-trained Morning Captain turned the tables on Funtantes with a decisive
half length win in the DPMA Handicap (1200m).
Theft was a
further three lengths away third.
Morning
Captain found the class a bit too hot during the Brisbane winter carnival but
did win four times against his own age in late 2011 and early this year.
One of
those wins included a win over the Rob Heathcote-trained Trump in the Listed Queensland
Day Plate (1350m) at Doomben last May.
Doughty
has been very patient with Morning Captain who has returned a healthy return on
the $3,000 owner Vince Dickson paid for the son of Danbird at the 2010 Magic
Millions yearling sales.
Morning Captain, who has earned more than $234,000 in prizemoney, has been a model of
consistency this campaign with two placings before finally breaking through for
his first win in open company.
Doughty's decision not to attempt an
interstate campaign this spring with Morning Captain could reap its reward
during the summer.
"It was a very good win and if he pulls
up well I'm going to back him up in a 1400-metre Quality at Eagle Farm next
week," Doughty said.
"Then if all goes well again we'll look at
the Triple Crown."
The Triple Crown begins with the G3 George
Moore (1200m) at Eagle Farm on December 8 followed by the Listed Lough Neagh
Stakes (1350m) at Doomben a fortnight later.
The third and final leg, the Listed
Bernborough Handicap (1600m) will be run at Doomben on December 29.
Doughty isn't ruling out attempting all
three legs with Morning Captain.
Meanwhile Run Royal Run underlined his
toughness with another powerful display to win the Iveco Trucks Australia Class Six
Plate (2140m).
Run Royal Run has had to overcome two career
threatening injuries to make it to the track.
The son of
Royal Academy broke his pelvis after his first start at Caloundra and
later hurt a tendon which required another lengthy break.
Trainer Barry Baldwin has nothing but praise
for the Palmer family who own Run Royal Run.
The late Ted Palmer paid $12,000 for Run
Royal Run at the 2009 Magic Millions yearling sales.
"Considering the early problems we had
with him he's now showing a lot of promise and I'm sure he's only going to get
better," Baldwin said.
Racing Queensland webnews
October 27
Photo: Trackside Photography
