Former Hungarian Horse of The Year Esti Feny (HUN) added Saturday’s $300,000 Listed Sportsbet Mornington Cup to his wins in the Listed Gosford Cup, Hungarian Derby and Hungarian St Leger while earning a golden ticket for the Caulfield Cup.
Ridden by Daniel Stackhouse for Matthew Smith, the 9-year old gelded son of Pigeon Catcher (IRE) collared the tiring leader Deny Knowledge on straightening before holding the challenge of Little Mix (Mahisara) by one and a quarter lengths, with Strawberry Rock (Rock Of Gibraltar) a further half length back in third.
“How exciting, the owners have been very patient and are now off to the Caulfield Cup,” stable representative Rebecca Shanks said.
“He ran so well in the (Australian Cup) Prelude, so it was worth having a crack at the Australian Cup. He has promised us so much behind the scenes and the team has done an incredible job to keep him up and running.
“He is a dream of a horse you would not know how old he is. He loves his racing and was borderline retired for a little while and I think Matt felt a bit bad for him in the paddock.
“He’s made a great comeback, so what a great decision that was.”
Esti Feny (HUN) advances his record to eight wins, four seconds, and three thirds from 34 starts with earnings of $632,119.
He is the best of five winners from seven to race for the unraced Nayef mare Ejtihaad (IRE) and all but singlehandedly earned that mare Broodmare of the Year honours in Hungary in 2018.
Esti Feny (HUN) is the lone stakes-winner for the Dutch Art stallion Pigeon Catcher (IRE) the winner of two races in France who hails from the family of Elnadim (USA) and Mehthaaf (USA).
