A fascinating origin inspired the name of Blue Door, the standout first-starter who captured the Group 3 $250,000 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
The filly Blue Door, sired by Stay Inside from Notting Hill, drew her moniker from a tale shared by owner John Singleton.
“My daughter, Jess, was living at Notting Hill in London and I went to visit here last year,” Singleton told Racing And Sports.
“I noticed all the doors in her street were painted blue and when Jess went out, I thought why not paint her door red.
“But when Jess came home, she wasn’t happy and suspected it was me. So, I had to have the door painted blue again.”
Blue Door ($4.40), partnered with Singleton’s daughter in ownership, claimed a gritty initial success by a half neck over the unfortunate late-charger The Next Episode ($2.80 favourite), while Under Focus ($5.50) finished a length further back in third.
Bjorn Baker delivered an outstanding preparation, providing Blue Door with just a single 900m barrier trial prior to her direct entry into a Group 3 event on debut.
“We don’t often ask a two-year-old to go straight into a stakes race on debut but she’s very good,” Baker said of Blue Door.
“They don’t often trial like that, as the punters’ will know, and I like them to me there and have a raceday test, we make no secret of that, but the way she did it and the time she ran, she looked to have plenty left.
“She’s shown exceptional ability since we’ve had her. She was a great trial winner and great to win for Singo and the team.
“I’m not sure if he’ll shout the bar today, but I’m going to make the most of it.”
Rachel King lavished commendation on Blue Door, who tracked just outside the pacemaker, seized command during the straight, and resisted the closing bid from The Next Episode, who had trailed from last after a poor start.
“I was a little wary off only one trial, I know she was very impressive in her trial, but we would always like them to have two,” King said.”But her gallop on Tuesday was super so I knew she’d taken plenty of benefit from that trial,
“She tired late the last 50m, but she’s got a great attitude, she’s a real race horse, she wants to win. She’s very professional, she’s got that will to win and wants to find the line.”
Explore the top Australian betting sites for the best racing betting markets on upcoming stakes races like the Kindergarten Stakes.