Off the scene since a career debut third behind The Odyssey at Doomben back in October last year, David Vandyke's Sebring filly Okeechobee was sent off a well-backed 7/4 favourite in a 1000 metre maiden at The Sunshine Coast on Sunday and justified the support with a convincing win.
Ridden by Matthew Powell, Okeechobee was restrained back to worse than midfield in this well-contested 14 runner maiden. Powell found a narrow seam 250 metres out and Okeechobee charged to the line to defeat Eeyore (The Brothers War) by half a length with the outsider Me As I Am (Show A Heart) a fast-closing third.
Purchased by her trainer for $210,000 out of the Lyndhurst Stud Farm draft at the 2018 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale, Okeechobee (pictured as a yearling ) is the second winner from as many foals out of the unraced Exceed And Excel mare Scorched.
Purchased by Lyndhurst Stud for a bargain-basement $1,500 from Darley at the 2014 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale, Scorched would have her worth multiplied many times when her younger brother Furnaces won the Group III ATC Kindergarten Stakes in 2015 and was multiple Group II placed.
Scorched is a daughter of the stakes-placed Strategic mare Heat Of Fire who descends from Colin Tidy's wonderful broodmare Summoned.
Heat Of Fire's Group III winning granddam Pampas Fire is a half-sister to Zeditave, Alannon, Square Deal and Zedigal and produced the Listed winner Cloister, the dam of dual Group 1 winner Melito.
Scorched has a yearling filly by Nicconi and was one of the last few mares to be covered by Sebring before his death in February.
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