Victorian trainer Dominic Sutton has made a strong start to his training career highlighted by a pair of two-year-olds sourced from New Zealand.
Talented Super Seth gelding Feroce (NZ) has notched victories at Pakenham and Caulfield for the emerging trainer, who also saddled impressive debutant Khadime (Star Turn) at Sandown on Wednesday.
A daughter of Star Turn, Khadime was a strong all-the-way winner of the Sportsbet Bet With Mates Handicap (1200m) under Daniel Stackhouse.
The youngster travelled like the winner a long way from home and dashed clear in the home straight to score by two and a half lengths.
“She has been very professional from Day One. She has come over to us from New Zealand well-handled from the farm that prepped her up (for the Ready To Run Sale) and she has been a lovely filly to deal with. She’s very straight forward and she has got a good bit of ability to go with it,” Sutton said.
“I have to go back and have a good look at the calendar. It was all about heading to the races first-up to see what she could do. Now she has ticked that box (of winning) we can have a look at some nice races for her.”
Stackhouse had ridden the filly in her jump-outs and said Sutton had placed her ideally to break maiden ranks with plenty more to come.
“She travelled so well, and I made sure she got around that (final) corner nicely and balanced up,” Stackhouse said.
“I always had a lot of horse there. I felt like if she got challenged, she would really fight again and she still felt really lost as well, given it was her first time at the races. She has got a lot of improvement to come.”
Sutton arrived in Australia from the UK as a 19-year-old and initially worked for leading trainer Chris Waller before taking up a role as foreman for Leon and Troy Corstens, where he quickly progressed into the position of assistant trainer.
After nearly six years with Team Corstens, Sutton branched out on his own and sent out his first runner last month. He now has three wins of the board from eight starts, with Khadime and Feroce the flag-bearers.
Khadime was purchased by Sutton Racing in conjunction with McKeever Bloodstock from last year’s New Zealand Bloodstock Ready To Run Sale for $200,000 from the draft of Eion and Megan Kemp’s Kilgravin Lodge.
“She was just a beautiful physical,” Sutton said.
“She was a big strong strapping filly who walked out when we looked at her and we initially thought she was a colt, which is always a good initial feeling to have when you see a horse.
“She also put a really nice breeze together. She looked quite raw and quite green in her breeze up and we just felt she would be a nice horse to have in the stable.”
Sutton and McKeever Bloodstock also went to $160,000 to secure last Saturday’s Caulfield winner Feroce from the same sale and vendor.
