Vandyke confident Noble Decree can make the grade

By Glenn Davis

Sunshine Coast trainer David Vandyke is noted for his patience and meticulous placement of horses so it comes as no surprise his talented galloper Noble Decree will make a low-key return at Ipswich on Wednesday.

Noble Decree was a $400,000 buy at the Karaka yearling sales in New Zealand and hasn’t been rushed by Vandyke.

He and stablemate Flying Shelly will clash in the Class 4 Handicap over 1200 metres.

A son of American sire Per Incanto, Noble Decree is raced by prominent owners Ron and Judy Wanless and has been sparingly raced with only nine starts for three wins and four seconds.

“Ron is very patient with his horses and he’s happy for me to take my time with him and it seems to be working,” Vandyke said.

Vandyke has a good opinion of Noble Decree who has a Group 1 family pedigree.

His mother Sharvasti won the Group 1 Avondale Cup in New Zealand in 2006.

Despite what looks to be a staying pedigree, Vandyke believes Noble Decree is best suited around distances of up to 1600 metres.

Noble Decree has won his past two starts at Doomben but hasn’t appeared since winning against his own age over 1350 metres at Doomben in July.

Vandyke has given Noble Decree a solid grounding for his comeback and expects him to be very competitive while he believes Flying Shelly needs to improve on her disappointing last start run at the Sunshine Coast on December 5.

The six-year-old Flying Shelly has won three of her 24 starts.

Flying Shelly is coming off a first-up eighth when beaten less than four lengths by the Matthew Hoysted-trained Colleano in a 1200 metre Benchmark race at the Sunshine Coast on December 5.

“Noble Decree has been working well and finished third in a barrier trial over 850 metres,” Vandyke said.

“He had a solid trial and has come on nicely since.

“This is a nice race for him to kick off his preparation as he’s got good ability.

“It’s been hard to find a suitable race to start off over the summer carnival but eventually we hope he’ll be a Saturday winner in town.”

While Vandyke’s patience is paying dividends with Noble Decree, the Sunshine Coast conditioner remains in no rush with the horse. 

“We’ve got no plans with him just yet and I still think 1600 metres is about his distance despite his staying pedigree,” Vandyke said.

“He’d have to improve to be a winter carnival chance next year, but he did improve a lot last campaign.”