Vivy Yeah: Mighty mare wins Five Diamonds on five-day back-up

3 months ago 22

Vivy Air took her earnings to almost $3m when winning the Five Diamonds – five days after racing in the Big Dance.

Reece Jones gave the ultra-tough mare a brilliant ride along the rails to edge out Transatlantic ($3.80fav) and Militarize ($4).

Ethan Brown wins on Vivy Air at Randwick.

Vivy Air ran second to stablemate Gringotts at Randwick on Tuesday, and trainer Ciaron Maher was more than happy to run the five-year-old after she pulled up so well. A swim at the beach on Wednesday, then a couple of easy days around the stable, ensured Vivy Air was ready to run another cheeky race.

Maher’s assistant trainer Johann Gerard-Dubord praised the ride of Jones, who was given the nod after Andrew Adkins was suspended for his ride on Vivy Air at Randwick. The mare’s confidence and stepping up to 1800m were also a couple of positives.

English trainer William Haggas flew home late Saturday after a rare Australian campaign without a winner. Bullet Point looked a treat in the yard, but could only beat one runner home in the $2m main event.

Meanwhile, Gerard-Dubord confirmed Gringotts would return to Kembla to defend The Gong, while Lugh, who was scratched from the Five Diamonds, was also headed to the provincial feature.

Darnation was scratched from the Hot Danish Stakes and will race next Saturday in The Hunter.

Glamour reduces Ryan to tears

Trainer Gerald Ryan became emotional when discussing the win of Arctic Glamour, the mare who was a chance of being retired after striking a couple of rubbish tracks in Queensland in the winter.

Arctic Glamour started the $41 outsider in the group 2 Hot Danish Stakes (1400m), and did well to hold out the fast-finishing Bauhinia for Lee Curtis.

“I love her, and she should have won more than what she’s won,” Ryan said.

“She ran fifth in an Epsom last year when ridden up on the speed. A lot of her races she had drawn bad barriers, she’s run on wet tracks; she’s had genuine excuses every run.

“We’ve had no trouble with her, she’s always had troubles with her feet, but this time, nothing. Her two runs in Queensland, she was just hopeless on that track up there.

“The owners wanted to retire her. The only two who had faith in her were [co-trainer] Sterling [Alexiou] and I, so it’s great.

“Her work on Tuesday morning was as good as I’ve seen on the course proper.”

Curtis walked up to Ryan and joked: “I picked a bad day for her [Arctic Glamour] to come back into form.” Ryan said it was the first morning Curtis never asked him for a tip.

Ryan will bypass The Gong in favour of a race like the Festival Stakes.

Mirval Rose ($2.35 favourite) led and tired to finish fourth, while Miss Roumbini, a $2.65 elect, was posted three wide the trip and finished seventh.

Waterhouse and Bott win third Gift

Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott won their third straight $1m Golden Gift when Revengeance did his best work late to run away with the two-year-old feature.

One of the few horses with race experience, Revengeance settled third before powering away to beat the chasing Spice Miss. The Waterhouse and Bott-trained Plagiarism did a lot of work early to lead and did well to cling to third.

The stable triumphed last year with North England, while Shangri La Express took out the spring juvenile dash in 2023.

Jockey Josh Parr was confident the $2.60 favourite was going to ruin accordingly once he made his way on to the track. For the record, Revengeance is the name of an action-adventure game.

“When I rode him in the Breeders Plate, he was a bit anxious and unsure of himself,” Parr said.

“Today, he was on the front foot, he was full of beans, he was the first horse on to the track, and he was basically sending the message [to the others], ‘follow me, I know where I’m going’.”

Parr’s brother-in-law is the Waterhouse and Bott yard’s regular rider, but he had commitments in Melbourne.

As for North England, the colt who ran sixth in the Golden Slipper, then won the Kindergarten Stakes, Bott said he would pop up in a race on the Gold Coast during the Magic Millions carnival.

Chris Waller’s Defensemen whacked away for fifth, and still does a lot of things wrong but will be winning races, while David Payne’s Persian Wonder, who looked more like a three-year-old in the ring, worked home late at big odds and should be one for the black book.