CANADIAN DANCER made an emphatic return to the winners’ circle at Eagle Farm on Saturday, breaking the 1500m track record.
Coming off a taxing 9th at the same track last month, the Steve O’Dea and Matt Hoysted-trained CANADIAN DANCER got into a lovely trailing position behind the leading cohort mid-race.
With the field strung out along the back straight, the 5YO mare was in a beautiful rhythm for rider Justin Huxtable and was poised to launch her challenge upon turning for home.
Huxtable switched CANADIAN DANCER back to the inside in the home straight and the pair dashed clear to win the BM85 Handicap by a convincing margin of 2.4 lengths. The race time of 1:28.81 set a new track record.
Canadian Dancer puts a gap on them. 🇨🇦💃@ODeaHoysted @ProvenTbreds pic.twitter.com/7AqPNXa8HD
— SKY Racing (@SkyRacingAU) September 16, 2023
“She was very dominant today,” Huxtable, who was having his first ride on the mare, said post-race.
“She flew the machines and injected herself into the race straight away. Obviously, I didn’t want to be too close if I could help it so I was able to just put my hands on her neck and we had a beautiful, relaxed run throughout.
“The speed of the race was very genuine, and I was never really worried about flowing into the race. I was able to make one nice sweeping run and she had enough in the tank to finish it off.”
Winner of the Listed Princess Stakes as a 3YO, CANADIAN DANCER now takes her record to five wins and five placings from only 15 starts.
The daughter of VANCOUVER was a bargain $50,000 yearling from Vinery Stud’s draft at the 2020 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale.
CANADIAN DANCER rounded out a fantastic day for Proven Thoroughbreds, with PRIVATE EYE also saluting in the $1 million Group 2 The Shorts (1100m), all but securing him a second crack at the $20 million Everest on October 14.