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Blue Book surprises Doughty in debut win

11 November 2017

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By Glenn Davis

Trainer Kelly Doughty admitted to her surprise when unfashionably bred Blue Book made a winning debut at Doomben on Saturday.

Ridden by premier jockey Jeff Lloyd, Blue Book lead all the way to down Grim Reaper by 2-1/4 lengths in the National Storage QTIS Two-Year-Old Handicap (1110m).

Rains Aplenty ran on strongly to finish third, a further half head away.

Blue Book is a son of Denmarket and was bred by his owner Phil Sullivan who has been a long-time client of Doughty.

Denmarket was originally trained in Western Australia where he won the Group 3 Sires’ Produce Stakes before being trained in Sydney by Gerald Ryan.

Under Ryan, Denmarket claimed the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes in 2005 before he was again transferred to Sydney’s David Payne and then David Kelly on the Gold Coast.

Blue Book went into his debut with only one barrier trial under his belt at the Gold Coast last month.

“He surprised me a bit as he’s a very big horse,” Doughty said.

“I didn’t expect him to get to the races so soon as I thought he’d probably go shin sore.

“He didn’t go through any sale and was bred by his owner.”

Doughty admitted she considered Blue Book’s assignment at his first start beyond him.

“I thought the field looked a bit too tough for him but he’s turned out to be a real surprise packet,” she said.

Lloyd also conceded he didn’t expect Blue Book to put on such a dazzling display.

“If he ran up to his trial form I wouldn’t have expected this,” Lloyd said.

“He was very sharp out of the barriers in his trial but he’s very laid back.

“He was very green today but he surprised me with the speed he showed and there’s improvement to come.”

The Steve O‘Dea-trained Grim Reaper was well supported in betting but was no match for Blue Book.

Racing Queensland webnews   November 11