|
Connections of Tonic will be on the hunt for black type after the four-year-old mare cruised home in the Denise's Joy Handicap (1300m) at Sandown this afternoon. A grey daughter of Dash for Cash, Tonic is a galloper with loads of ability, but she's had her share of injury concerns according to trainer Robert Smerdon. "She won here two runs ago and then she was heading into a 1400 metre race and she developed a foot abscess," Smerdon commented. "So the break was enforced, not by design." The abscess forced connections to scrap plans to run Tonic in a recent feature Flemington race. "It was a real deep-seated one and it took us a while to get past it and that's the reason for the break." "We would have liked to have gone to the Rivette Series Final and would have been very competitive there but it wasn't to be and hopefully we can be back on track now."
Winning rider Nicholas Hall, who last week captured the apprentice premiership for Melbourne, has a good opinion of Tonic. "I think she's a really nice mare.... really powerful, good in the wet and she'll appreciate a trip too." "I just think she's going to be better over the mile, three back getting off their backs and being able to chase hard," Hall continued. "She has a good turn of foot and I think you take that away from her when you ride her forward but with no speed today we wanted to make a good thing of it." Tonic ($1.70 fav) defeated Onatick ($16-$17) with Mokobaesi Miss ($12-$10) in third. A daughter of star Magic Millions graduate Dash for Cash, Tonic was purchased for $80,000 from the draft of Northern Lodge Stud at the 2007 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale at Morphettville.
With today's win added to her record, the mare has now earned over $107,000 - with the promise of plenty more to come. Being a daughter of the lightly raced Salieri mare Dance a Gallop, Tonic is a half relation to five winners including the five time stakes placed and eight time winner Sir Chuckle (won $359,150). Dance a Gallop, who raced once, is from a stakes performed Danzatore half sister to Keltrice, making her a half sister to Belle Grise and My Sweet Pamela. PICS - Greg Irvine Magic Millions Media Release Published 05/08/09
|