Valuable Matthew Dale import New King scored his first Australian triumph on Saturday announcing himself as a middle-distance force to be reckoned with this spring.
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The four-year-old son of Frankel pulled away under the urgings of James McDonald for a 1.3L win 1500m at Benchmark 78 level, and the prospect of black-type racing looms with Dale expecting the horse will only improve as it steps out over further.
"He's still got a fair bit to learn New King he's only lightly raced and it's really good to see him get on the board so early in his Australian career," Dale said.
"We'll just take him through benchmark races, step him up in trip as we go. He's got that win on the board so we'll look for him to capitalise on that and improve off it next start."
New King was purchased for 450,000 guineas in the UK by James Harron Bloodstock, and was originally trained by John Gosden before moving to Australia and transferring to Dale's Canberra yard.
He broke his maiden with an eight-length triumph at Sandown Park as a two-year-old, and ran seventh on debut in Australia at Rosehill last month.
The breeding barn shapes as the ultimate endgame for New King given his royal bloodlines, but Dale said there hadn't yet been any talk of retirement.
"He's a well bred Frankel colt, he's a lovely horse and he's got a good demeanour so there's been no reason to even discuss not racing him as a stallion," Dale said.
He'll keep pressing forward and as we get up through the grades I'm sure we'd love to get him into some black type races.
"This is the first European stallion that we've had so it's a learning curve for the stable as well. We're rapt to have the opportunity to train him, he's a really nice horse and he's heading in the right direction."
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New King's win marks Dale's second Sydney triumph in two weeks following Man Of Peace's dominant performance last weekend, stamping himself as a genuine contender for the $1.3m Kosciuszko in October.
"There's a fair bit of water to go under the bridge and he'll most likely start again next Saturday," Dale said.
"He's come through last Saturday's win really well."
James Buckley
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
James is a Queanbeyan boy enjoying his second stint at the Canberra Times, more than eight years on from his first. In between he's traveled the world, and spent time covering sport in Sydney.
