Doubtland has stamped himself as a colt with a bright future after toying with his rivals in the Gr.3 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) at Randwick.
Trained by Team Hawkes, Doubtland was sent into Saturday's race for two-year-olds off a debut win on the Kensington track at Randwick a month ago and he remained unbeaten with an impressive display on the opening day of The Championships.
Co-trainer Michael Hawkes said Doubtland will be given a break and he expects him to be a force to be reckoned with during his three-year-old season.
With Brenton Avdulla aboard, Doubtland ($5) settled second last on the fence in the field of seven before he was angled into the clear on the outside from the top of the straight.
He chimed in quickly to hit the front approaching the 200m on a heavy-rated track before extending clear to beat Jerle ($26) by four lengths, with New Zealand colt Not An Option ($7) another half-length away third.
"That was a lovely win," Michael Hawkes said. "We just get these colts right at the right time.
"To be fair, Brenton didn't panic. He just had to wait and the option was there to go on the fence or peel him out. When he got out wide he had a lapful of horse and it was all over for mine."
Doubtland, a son of Not A Single Doubt out of Miss Sharapova, was bought for A$1.1 million as a yearling by Orbis Bloodstock.
"He's just going to be a force to be reckoned with as a three-year-old," Hawkes said.
"That's why we kept him back and we didn't really want to rush him into the bigger races such as the (Group One) Sires'.
"He's a Group winner now, he's worth a lot of money and he can go and have a break and he'll come back as a lovely, lovely three-year-old."
Doubtland’s dam Miss Sharapova was trained by Ken and Bev Kelso in New Zealand, where she won four races and was Group Three placed when third in the Lowland Stakes (Gr.3, 2100m), while the daughter of Ustinov was also fourth in the Gr.1 New Zealand Oaks (2400m) behind Keep The Peace.
“We paid $8,000 for her as a yearling at Karaka,” Ken Kelso said. “She was by Ustinov, who was quite unfashionable at the time.
“Her younger half-sister is Australian Group Two winner Villa Verde, who was Group One placed, so that alone enhanced her value,” he said.
“She was certainly a handy horse to be placed in a Lowland and fourth in Oaks.
“We sold her through Dean Hawthorne (bloodstock agent) to Arrowfield Stud and Jonathan Munz. Dean put a price to us which we were quite happy to take.”
Miss Sharapova’s first foal is the Listed winner Pretty Fast, a full-sister to Doubtland and also a high-priced yearling.
In fact, Miss Sharapova’s progeny have been sales ring stars to date, with her first four yearlings making A$650,000 (Pretty Fast, by Not A Single Doubt), A$320,000 (Newstead, by Not A Single Doubt), A$900,000 (Unnamed Snitzel colt) and A$1.1 million (Doubtland, by Not A Single Doubt).
“We weren’t into breeding ourselves and we probably couldn’t have mated her to the stallions she has been to,” Kelso said.
“We were very happy with what we got and it looks like she has turned out to be okay.
“I occasionally regret selling her but Bev was quick to remind me this morning that Miss Sharapova paid for quite an expensive renovation on our house,” Kelso said. – NZ Racing Desk
