Group Race Glory for Republican Party (NZ) in Aussie Debut
8 February 2023
Republican Party (NZ) (Bettor’s Delight) booked his ticket into one of Australia’s most anticipated features with an outstanding win in the A$50,000 Group Three Hondo Grattan Stakes (1609m) at Menangle on Saturday night.
The Cran and Chrissie Dalgety-trained pacer was brilliant in his Australian debut, cruising to an effortless victory after controlling the pace with driver Carter Dalgety.
The star pacer was purchased for $210,000 by Cran Dalgety at the 2020 Christchurch National Yearling Sale from breeder-vendors Price Bloodstock.
Carter Dalgety was eager to find the lead early in Saturday night’s mile feature. And once he did, Republican Party never gave his rivals a look in.
“I thought I would try to come out with a bit of authority and give the ones inside me no option,” Carter said.
“It probably helped that there weren’t too many others coming out wide.
“After we found the front we got the next quarter in 30.4sec and a horse of his class was always going to be impossible to run down after that.
“He actually goofed around a wee bit on the turn and the second horse got up to his girth in the straight.
“But when he realised it was go-time he kicked away and won it pretty easy.
“He is a smart animal and he doesn’t run away to win on his own, he races the other horses that come up to him.
“It was a big thrill to get the job done.”
Republican Party gained automatic entry into the A$250,000 Chariots Of Fire at Menangle on February 18.
“It is a huge plus for us to qualify early, we can keep him happy until it is time for the big dance,” said co-trainer Cran Dalgety
“Next week there will be plenty of horses going to war trying to get into the race and we will be more than happy to be sitting on the sidelines.
“There is the option to run him in a race outside the Chariots qualifiers, we will keep that in our back pocket.
“But most likely he will have some solid training runs because he is very much still on the way up.
“He will take a lot of benefit from that run on Saturday night and now we will be timing our run to have him cherry ripe for the Chariots,” he said.
Republican Party is set for an epic clash with Australian stars Catch A Wave (Captaintreacherous) and Captain Ravishing (Captaintreacherous) in the Chariots Of Fire.
| Vendor | Price Bloodstock |
| Purchaser | Cran Dalgety |
| Breeding | Bettor’s Delight x Democrat Party |
| Sale | 2020 Christchurch Yearling Sale, $210,000 |
| Bred by | F J Price & Mrs K V Price |