Flashback Friday: Early Draw, late fade
A look back at the 'it' horse of the 2011 spring, Mark Kavanagh's imported galloper December Draw.
Australian Bloodstock’s Gold Trip is tipped to make a big impact at his Australian debut on Saturday, the French import trialling strongly at Albury and possessing the ‘right’ Group One form through placings in the Prix Ganay and Grand Prix de Saint-Cloud.
Trundling down the memory lane of imported gallopers that made big early impacts in Australia, one of the first to spring to mind is the Mark Kavanagh-trained December Draw. But unlike Gold Trip – who has been kept safe in markets – this bloke really snuck up on punters.
Making his Australian debut over the Flemington in May of 2011, it’s easy to see why December Draw SP’d at $26. His 16 UK starts had heralded three wins and six minor placings, with a third in a Listed 2000m race and a ninth of 29 in a Royal Hunt Cup the only form markers of any consequence. A strong late finish and narrow defeat of Under The Hat meant this would be the last time the son of Medecis would be overlooked for the remainder of that year however, jumping at prices ranging from warm to red-hot.