Chief Stipe Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 Crown Prosecutor defied record-breaking odds to win yesterday’s Vodafone New Zealand Derby at Ellerslie, but he wasn’t always so long in the market. The son of Medaglia d’Oro opened at $31 on the TAB’s fixed-odds market for the $1 million classic, and he tightened to $18 after registering the first win of his career in the Gr. 3 Wellington Stakes at Otaki in November. Following that win, Crown Prosecutor was described in glowing terms by purchaser Bruce Perry and trainer Stephen Marsh’s racing manager Todd Pollard. Perry recalled that he was surprised he was able to buy the colt for as little as A$50,000 as a yearling. Our report on that Wellington Stakes win can be found here. After the Wellington Stakes, owners Huntingdale Lodge and JML Bloodstock turned prospective buyers away. After Crown Prosecutor’s G3 Wellington S the Not 4 Sale sign went up till after the NZ Derby. Looked a pretty dumb call after his next two runs. Feeling better now so a huge thanks to the brilliant team @marshracing & @CraigGrylls & to CP for fronting when it mattered most pic.twitter.com/11eWOkFtjy — Bruce Perry (@Bpbloodstock) March 2, 2019 They may have started to regret that policy as Crown Prosecutor finished only eighth in the Gr. 1 Levin Classic and ninth in the Gr. 2 Waikato Guineas, but Marsh was always confident in his colt’s ability. In The Informant’s Derby preview (click here) last week, he said: “He’ll be one of the outsiders, but he’s a better horse than his form suggests. “Nothing really went right for him in the Waikato Guineas. He got too far back, but I didn’t think his run was too bad (ninth, 6.3 lengths from the winner). We want to see him go forward this time, and I think he could potentially be an improver at big odds.” Meanwhile, Huntingdale’s Harvey Green went into Derby day with a relaxed frame of mind. Even though he is the outsider of the field it’s really exciting to have a runner in the NZ Derby tomorrow with Crown Prosecutor (Medaglia D’Oro) drawing barrier 7. Big ask with a new jockey and having never raced at Ellerslie previously. You never know unless you have a go. pic.twitter.com/gfle9mzoUh — Harvey Green (@harveyskydisk) March 1, 2019 The rest is New Zealand Derby history. View the full article Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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