Doncaster Mile (Group 1)

WITHIN a dozen strides of the gates opening, the winning move was made in the $3 million Group 1 Doncaster Mile.

From barrier three, Jamie Kah on Cascadian eased to switch onto the heels of the race favourite Mugatoo who’d jumped from barrier four. From that point Sydney racegoers got a first-hand view of the phenomenon that is Jamie Kah.

With Mugatoo taking Cascadian into the race, Kah patiently waited for the gap as Mugatoo raced to challenge for the lead. Overpowering their ‘bunny’, Cascadian went on with the task to haul in the Sacred Falls mare Ice Bath and win by a half-head as the Dalakhani horse Dalasan ran third ahead of the Irish-bred Mugatoo in fourth.

“I am a bit speechless to be honest,” said Kah of her fourth Group 1 win, her first in Sydney and the first by a woman for Godolphin globally. “We got a beautiful run, everything just opened up at the right time for him.

“He probably waited a little bit on the line, that is why I wasn’t sure if I had got it or not. But he stuck his nose out though and I couldn’t be happier.”

Applause

Returning to scale, Kah received raucous applause, her presence in the race making the British-bred New Approach gelding one of the best backed. She had even revealed to Hugh Bowman her plans pre-race: “I was talking to Hughie (on Mugatoo) in the gates and said ‘I’m going to follow you. I hope you win but if you don’t I am going to win’.”

The win was a maiden Group 1 for the former André Fabre-trained Cascadian, out of the Irish-bred UAE Oaks winner Falls Of Lora, having revealed his class at the mile with a second in Group 1 Cantala Stakes at Flemington on Victoria Derby Day 2020.

“When horses can come off the plane of his calibre we know that we’re cooking with gas,” said an ebullient James Cummings, his team having completed a Group 1 double with Anamoe in the Sires’ Produce. Cummings was equally delighted in having secured Kah once Cascadian had been handicapped at 53kgs.

“She’s rating right up on the figures as James McDonald is rating in Sydney,” said Cummings. “We were very, very keen to try and book her for a lightweight ride in the Doncaster and we had a few circling.

“Once Cascadian came through the George Ryder with such a brilliant fourth and we got the opportunity to drop back in weight, Jamie’s team were very happy to ride him. It didn’t rely on me to make much of a point to her, she was very keen to be on him and she had the right plan. She thought about the race exactly the way we did and that’s put us in the frame.”

The win in Sydney was a breakthrough for 25-year-old Kah, though not so in Melbourne where she is on track to break the Melbourne Jockeys Premiership record of 100 wins. She will even bypass today’s Day 2 of the Championships in Sydney.

“I’m not really focusing on winning the premiership, I just want to get to that goal (100 wins) which would be unbelievable,” said Kah who is adjusting to her position as a role model.

“I get people telling me that their daughter looks up to me and that she wants to be like Jamie Kah when she’s older and it’s just so surreal to me. I think that’s the most exciting part of all of this.”