Promising 3yo Too Darn Hot (GB) gelding Bootlegger recorded his third race win, and first at black type level when successful in Monday's Listed SAJC Morphettville Guineas (1600m) for trainers Dan Clarken and Oopy MacGillivray.
One of five runners in the nine-horse field under double figure odds, jockey Emily Finnegan took the 3yo forward to settle down in second with the race favourite Uptown Monk crossing the field and going to the lead.
Racing off the fence, the Kayla Crowther-ridden Uptown Monk extended his lead by four lengths with about 800m to run.
With Bootlegger coming out after the leader as the field headed into the Morphettville straight, Danny O’Brien’s last start winner and leading contender Cannae (Maurice) came along the rail to mount a challenge.
With Uptown Monk weakening, Cannae hit the lead before Bootlegger fought hard, wrestling the lead back to score by a half-length margin.
A homebred for Robert Hill-Smith, who passed the horse in at the Inglis Premier yearling sale as a yearling after he failed to reach his $125,000 reserve as part of the Twin Hills Stud draft, the gelding has now recorded three wins and three placed efforts from ten starts with earnings of earned $175,903.
“I know that Robert Hill-Smith will be at home screaming at a screen – he’ll be very excited,” MacGillivray, who co-trains with Dan Clarken, said.
“Emily rode her brilliantly … he found for her and that’s exactly what we expected to see.
“She’s done a good job and has been there when our apprentice Tala Hutchinson injured herself about 12 months ago.
“Emily stepped up, she’s been at Murray Bridge every morning to ride the horses.
“She’s basically done nothing wrong, things happen in racing as we know, she’s vindicated today and she’s ridden brilliantly – let’s celebrate today.”
Having ridden the gelding in all his starts, it was a significant victory for Finnegan.
“I’m just rapt to have the opportunity to ride some really nice horses for Dan and Oopy, they’ve got some real talent in the stable,” Finnegan said.
“I thought there might have been a question mark with the big jockeys coming over today but they were very loyal (to me) … and I couldn’t be anymore grateful.”
Bootlegger is the best of two winners out of the imported mare Dalakhani mare Princess Youmzain (GB), herself a half-sister to G1 winer Akeed Mofeed who stands at South Australia’s Rosden Park and G3 Jordan Spirit.
Princess Youmzain had since changed hands, selling for just $600 via the 2024 Inglis May (Late) Online Sale to Mr B Moore, and unfortunately the mare died after one more foal, with her current yearling colt being by Dubious.
Bootlegger became the 33rd stakes winner Darley’s Too Darn Hot, whose list of stakes winners is headed by five individual G1 winners including recent Oakleigh Plate winner Tropicus and multiple G1 winner Broadsiding.
Shuttling to Darley Kelvinside, Too Darn Hot covered 110 mares last season at a fee of $275,000 (inc. GST) while Broadsiding covered 160 mares at a fee of $66,000 (inc. GST), highlighting the popularity of the Dubawi (IRE) sire-line here in Australia.
Too Darn Hot will be represented by 14 lots at the upcoming Inglis Easter yearling sale.
