He Or She has returned from a failed return-trip to Perth for a first-up victory in the G3 Shaftsbury Avenue Hcp (1400m) at Flemington.
The Lindsay Park galloper (pictured on the outside) worked hard to challenge Hooked and responded when the front-runner kicked to win by a nose. “He hit a flat spot and I thought the inside horse had him covered at the 400-metre mark,” co-trainer David Hayes said after the head-bobber on Saturday. “But he kept coming and stuck his head out at the finish.”
He Or She (6g Kendel Star – Danessa by West Point) was placed at Group 1 level three times during the Melbourne spring carnival and stayed in training for a home-town prep that bottomed out in the Kingston Town Classic & Railway Stakes.
Hayes declared He or She will defend his crown in the Group 2 Blamey Stakes (1600m) back at Flemington on March 18. “He won last year’s Blamey and it might springboard him into a race in Sydney,” Hayes said while mentioning the G1 Doncaster at a possible goal. “It’s never over with this horse.”
He Or She transferred to Victoria after winning five in a row at the 2014-15 Ascot summer carnival for part-owners Alan & Birgitt MacAlister and trainer Vaughn Sigley. They had knocked back a $300,000 offer from Hong Kong before agreeing to a deal with Lindsay Park.
The Sunspeed-bred star spotlights his sire Kendel Star (Kenmare) who stands at Rivercrest Park Stud. The evergreen grey stallion had a three-quarter brother to LR Raconteur Stakes winner Ken’s Double sell for $50,000 to Neville Parnham at the Perth Magic Millions.
Rivercrest Park also catalogued a Kendel Star brother to 5 time stakes winner and $550,000 earner Mabel Grace but he returned home after being passed-in at the Magic Millions. He will be trained by Sharon Taylor and there are shares available by calling studmaster Steve Hoare on 0409 987 970.