Denario filly secures her place on the grid for Grand Prix Day

Addington Raceway held a last-minute race on Sunday afternoon (27 November) for the top 13 two-year-olds in each gait and sex to qualify for Grand Prix Day at the same track this weekend. Nathan Williamson and the connections of Micaitlen Denario need to win the penultimate race to secure a start in the Ace Of Diamonds for 2YO pacing fillies.

Micaitlen Denario won her first race yesterday. Mark O'Connor and his wife Pauline have a 20% share of the racing syndicate. Owen Shaw, who bred and raced Shezaball with Mark, has 20%. The other 40% is split up between friends and associates. The 19th Hole syndicates took 20%, which is a group of golfers who raced Southern Delight (Bettor’s Delights). They took Shehabal”s half-sister. The first filly from the family was originally named Sorpressa Denio, but was renamed Play Philly after a mix up with the semen.

Shezaball has produced four foals to winners. She has two Group 3 winners and a G2 placegetter on her CV. Her first foal, Rockaballs, won $150,000 and won a Group three. Ivan Major died of leukemia at two-years-old. Play Philly is a nice mare but she had a wind operation and may not be able to race in the Autumn. Sunday afternoons winner Micaitlen Denario was prepared in a similar way to the sales horses. The connections changed the routine with non-sales bound horses to improve their performance. They put her and the other syndicate horse through a preparation system.