By Dylan Mutu
The powerful Maher and Eustace camp have Group 1 ambitions with Le Don De Vie following his Caloundra Cup demolition job on Saturday afternoon.
The Listed Caloundra Cup was certainly the highlight of the day on the last afternoon of the winter carnival, where the field of 14 - scattered with southern raiders, aimed to finish the racing season on a high before it comes to a close at month’s end.
A plan of which the strong Melbourne-based stable of Ciaron Maher and David Eustace conquered with galloper Le Don De Vie after a stirring display that saw the six-year-old romp in Saturday’s feature.
The progressive gelding put his wet track fears to rest, relishing the heavy going much better than the dryer surface he came up against last start in the Group 2 Q22, where he finished a disappointing eleventh, to a front-running special from Annabel Neasham-trained galloper Numerian.
It was a masterful steer from star Sydney hoop Nash Rawiller in Saturday’s $300,000 feature, placing the gelding at the back of the field from his wide alley.
He took a comfortable sit behind the Matthew Smith-trained runner Pappalino in transit, which gave him a nice run into the race.
In the final 600 metres, the multiple Group 1-winning hoop got to work, stalking Queensland apprentice Jaden Lloyd into the straight where the Victorian then put his rivals away in a convincing two and a half-length victory.
Co-trainer David Eustace was pleased to get a feature win with Le Don De Vie.
“It was a good ride. To be honest, he should have shown these qualities in the Q22 but it was a complete disaster and probably got the wrong instructions," he said.
“He was held up and never got a run.
"I think he would have run a big race that day.
“He showed some good form here and it was nice to get the win.”
Big-race jockey Rawiller echoed Eustace’s comments after his ride.
“It was just a matter of timing, with him. With all due respect to the field, he is a horse I felt had a lot more under the belt than the others," Rawiller said.
“It wasn’t ideal trip into the race, he sort of made a mess of some of the sections, but he managed a nice kick leading into the straight. I’m sure there will be something for him in the spring.”
The big Victorian stable will now start the process of assessing whether the spring will be a viable option for the Caloundra Cup champion.
“There is nothing special planned for him yet. He is a gelding racing in good form and we’ll chip away the next month or so," the co-trainer said.
“He will probably go back to Sydney, but what we do know now is that he likes wetter surfaces.
“The Metropolitan is the race you’d think to target but there’s probably going to be some younger, fresher legs there.”
The Metropolitan is a Group 1 2400 metre handicap race held annually in early October at Randwick racecourse during the Sydney spring race carnival.
In-form Sydney galloper Arapaho fought on to claim a hard-fought second place finish for Mark Du Plessis and Bjorn Baker whilst Pappalino rounded out the placings in the 2022 edition of the Caloundra Cup at the Sunshine Coast Turf Club.
Le Don De Vie currently boasts seven wins from his 26 starts and has accumulated just under $700,000 in prize money.