Dale’s belief in Meg pays off in Mona Lisa
Matt Dale was yesterday vindicated in his belief that there was upside in lightly raced Meg (Sebring) despite an up-and-down summer preparation when the mare scored a valuable stakes win in the $161,000 Mona Lisa Stakes (Listed, 1350m) at Wyong, her first at black-type level.
The Canberra-based Dale had been training Meg for Gary Harding for about 12 months, a partnership which netted three wins, after the prominent Kiwi owner sent her to Australia following eight starts in New Zealand.
But after the Sebring (More Than Ready) mare’s lacklustre five-start campaign, which closed out with an unplaced run in the National Sprint (Listed, 1400m) at Canberra in March, Harding decided it was time to move her on.
Since Dale and his partners purchased Meg privately – she was withdrawn from May’s Magic Millions Gold Coast National Broodmare Sale – the five-year-old has returned in grand style with a victory at Randwick on August 6 before yesterday’s Listed win which dramatically enhances her valuation as a broodmare prospect.
“At the end of last preparation Gary was just having a reshuffle of his stock. He predominantly likes to race two and three-year-olds … so he was looking to sell her and asked if we would have been interested in buying her,” Dale told ANZ Bloodstock News after Meg’s Mona Lisa success.
“She had a bit of a disjointed prep last time in. I was keen on her first-up [at Randwick last December] and a few things went wrong, pulling up with an issue chiropractically, but she then had glimpses of good form.
“Even in the Country Championships heat, I thought her run was pretty much as good as [fourth-placed] Cavalier Charles’ run on the day and she just didn’t have an ideal preparation.
“We gave her a good spell and we certainly thought she was worth persevering with in that mares’ grade. It was questionable whether she was black type but we did think she was city grade.”
Ridden by Hugh Bowman yesterday, Meg ($31) settled off the pace before making her run down the middle of the Wyong straight on a track favouring horses being off the fence.
She lunged to score over the Godolphin-owned, James Cummings-trained pair Katalin (Medaglia D’Oro) ($2.70 favourite) and Larkspur Run (Shamardal) ($10) who finished second and third respectively in the mares’ race.
“The way the track’s playing really suited her … it was a really good win at Randwick recently,” Bowman told Sky Racing post-race.
“It was a dominant win, and she made a long run from a long way out, so it was no surprise even though she was long odds.”
A $440,000 Inglis Australian Easter Yearling Sale purchase by Harding in 2019, the Segenhoe Thoroughbreds-bred and sold mare is one of four named foals out of six-time winner Martilago (Encosta De Lago), herself a half-sister to the New Zealand Group 1 winner Charmont (High Chaparral).
Meg raced eight times in New Zealand for trainers Jono Benner and Hollie Wynyard, winning once, before joining Dale’s stable in the Australian capital.
He has now won a further five races with the five-year-old, taking her prize-money earnings to more than $281,000.
There is the possibility Meg could end up going back through a mares’ sale next year, but for now, Dale is focused on maximising her career-best run of form.
The Tibbie Stakes (Gr 3, 1400m) at Newcastle on September 16, the Angst Stakes (Gr 3, 1600m) at Randwick on October 8 and the $2 million Kosciuszko (1200m), a race reserved for NSW country-trained horses on Everest day, are all circled in the calendar.
“She’s still relatively lightly raced, so when it’s time for her to go to stud, whether it’s at next year’s mares sale or the following year, we’ll make that call,” Dale said.
“At this stage, we’re just enjoying the fact that she’s come back really well with a will to win and going through the grades, so we won’t let her stop any time soon.”