After a luckless spring, owner Dennis Marks and I purposefully gave Let’s Make Adeal a good break to target two races in Adelaide over their recent May carnival. I have never had her in better condition, and she duly won her first stakes race on Saturday.
She may not have been a punter’s friend before Saturday, but that’s only because we have often raced Let’s Make Adeal in very competitive Group-level races both in the Melbourne Spring and Sydney Autumn.
Two weeks ago in the Group 2 Queen of the South Stakes (1600m), Let’s Make Adeal returned this campaign with a very strong second placing. Returning to a favourite hunting ground of ours, Morphettville, she won the Listed Centaurea Stakes with authority.
The plan was to try and have her in clear running. Craig Williams was true to his word, content to sit three wide before breaking away for a commanding 3 1/2 length victory. After six previous stakes placings, this was an important win for her career, and a great reward for Dennis Marks’ patience and investment in this family of the great Let’s Elope.
The $300,000 Group 2 Brisbane Cup remains a possible target, allowing her to have a short break in the Queensland warmth afterwards, before another Spring campaign. But we will have to see how the weather is.
A big thanks to the SAJC for being so welcoming to us again, as they have been with our other runners in recent weeks (Cathy’s Mark, Manapine and Zero Red). I notice that our career winning strike rate at Morphettville is a healthy 22 percent, with a further 24 percent placed. With that kind of success, we will continue to cross the border with the right horses!
