Doubtwilly showed he has inherited plenty of family talent when he made a successful start to his racing career.
The two-year-old, sent out a $3.90 chance, found the lead soon after they jumped and was then never headed at the Sunshine Coast on Sunday (February 8).
Ridden by Ben Thompson, he dug deep in the straight to score by one-and-a-half lengths and cap an impressive debut performance.
Trainer Stuart Kendrick was understandably pleased with what he saw, particularly given the challenge facing a young horse first-up over 1200 metres.
“It was good to see. It’s never easy for a two-year-old to start over 1200 (on debut),” Kendrick said.
“But look, he’s trialled up nicely and you don’t know until you get to race day,” he said.
“And that’s why I said to Ben, just leave it up to him. He got the job done nicely.”
Doubtwilly’s win carried an added sense of history for Kendrick and his stable, with the gelding following in the footsteps of his grandmother Doubtfilly, who also won on debut. That connection was a key reason Kendrick was keen to secure the youngster in the first place.
“I actually bought him because he’s out of a mare called Written Doubt, who’s out of Doubtfilly, one of our favourite horses,” he said.
“She ran fourth in the (Golden) Sipper and this bloke looks very, very similar to her.
“A lot of the guys that were in her (Doubtfilly) actually bought into this horse. So, they’ll be very happy.
“We bought him out of the Classic and he wasn’t an expensive buy. It’s good to kick off with a win.
“He’s developed into a lovely horse now. He’s strong and he’s been very sensible and shown a good turn of foot on the track.”
Depending on how the horse pulls up, Kendrick is now keen to look for a 2YO Saturday race in town for the youngster.