Diva's brother makes promising debut at Geelong
A half-brother to triple Melbourne Cup winner Makybe Diva has made an encouraging start to his racing career at Friday’s Geelong Synthetic meeting.
Patinack Farm paid $1.2 million for Shadowofexellence, a son of Redoute’s Choice who is also a brother to the handy galloper Musket, a winner at Group II level in the Shannon Stakes at Rosehill.
The Hawkes Racing-trained Shadowofexcellence showed moderate pace out of the gates to sit near the tail of the field until the home turn in the Xmas Party 2 December Maiden (1300m).
Jockey Steven King asked the colt for an effort at the 300 metres before Shadowofexcellence showed strong acceleration to run home well for third, beaten two lengths by the David Hayes-trained Margiela.
“He’s a bit new and a bit immature but he ran well,” King said.
“The plan was to come back a bit and relax. He gave me a nice ride and when I asked him to let down through his gears, he really hit the line good.
“When he gets to a bigger track on turf he will be a better horse.”
Brad Waters