Pat always says that Mornington horses generally do well racing at Mornington, and Shangani Patrol (Helenus/Bareback) proved him right today, surviving a surprising protest to win in the Highview Accounting Maiden Plate over 1500m.
This was Shangani Patrol’s fifth start, and one of Epsom Lodge’s favourite riders Rhys McLeod did a great job settling him back in the field then letting him go in the straight to rattle home and win by 1.5 lengths on the line. Rhys is currently displaying a very dodgy “mo” having put fashion aside in order to support the Movember charity with some charming (or alarming) face fungus.
Congratulations to Trevor Delroy of Wyadup Valley Farms, breeder and owner of Shangani Patrol. Trevor has been a huge supporter of Australian racing with state-of-the-art facilities in the Margaret River region of Western Australia and at Lancefield, where his focus is on producing stayers such as The BMW winner CEDARBERG, Derby winners ETHIOPIA and ZABEELIONAIRE and Oaks winner GONDOKORO(NZ).
A big thank you to all of the Epsom Lodge team who work hard to have each horse at its peak on race day.