A first trip to the winner’s circle for Jamie Kah and a second for James Cummings on Melbourne Cup day as the honest Larkspur Run got off the reserves bench to capture the Group III The Hong Kong Jockey Club Stakes (1400m) at Flemington.
Coming off a close-up third behind Turaath (GB) in the Listed Black Pearl Stakes at Geelong, the 4yo daughter of Shamardal (USA) defeated the Written Tycoon mare Literary Magnate by three-quarter of a length with the Sebring mare Mac 'N' Cheese a shoer-half-head back in third.
It was a deserving breakthrough for Larkspur Run who had four previous black-type placings.
“I think she (Kah) put her in the right spot and enabled the horse to show her toughness,” Cummings said.
“That’s great for the farm. That leads to Larkspur Run being a new stakes winner for Darley.
“I liked the ride, and Dominic Beirne and I talked about the horse sitting out wide and enabling her to get out to the right lane at the right time.
“She’s a tough mare. Very fit. I’d given her enough runs, including a run two ago on a very heavy track that I didn’t sway from at Randwick, and her toughness prevailed in a really strong finish over 1400 metres.
“It is only the fourth time I’ve brought her to this distance, but she looked like 1400 metres would suit her on her last run in the Black Pearl at Geelong, and the ground was firm then.
“This ground suited her a lot better, and it showed her to nice effect.”
Kah said Larkspur Run enjoyed the cut out of the ground.
“It was a great run. I just didn’t think she’d handle the firm surface. When the track came up like it did today, I thought it would be perfect for her,” Kah said.
“I wasn’t where I wanted to be in the run. I wanted to be back a little bit just to get some cover on her, but she was really tough.
“I thought she might float a bit when she hit the front, but she was never in doubt today.
“She’s improved a lot mentally. I think she just wants a bit of give in the ground. She’s got quite a rough little action on her, so I think today was fantastic so keep her on the soft ground.”
A Godolphin homebred, Larkspur Run advanced her record to three wins, five seconds, and three thirds from 18 starts with earnings of $347,815.
A half-sister to Group II Magic Night Stakes runner-up Magic Carpet (Lonhro), Larkspur Run is out of the winning Exceed And Excel mare Aspen a half-sister to Group II Surround Stakes winner Ghisoni (Lonhro), whose son Renosu was an impressive winner earlier on the program.
Aspen has a 2yo Lonhro filly named Dipsy Doodle, who finished fourth on debut behind stablemate Barber at Randwick on October 22.
Aspen has not had much luck recently. She lost a Blue Point (IRE) colt after birth and was not covered last spring.
Larkspur Run is the 164th stakes-winner for Shamardal (USA) a 5-time shuttler to Darley.
