Turned out in top order by John Moore, Able Friend was allowed to settle near
the rear for Joao Moreira and after bullocking his way into the clear produced
a sensational burst of acceleration to charge clear and win by a resounding
four and a quarter lengths.A giant son of Darley based Shamardal (USA), who shuttled to Australia for several seasons, Able Friend was a class above and earned high praise for his memorable victory with Moreira claiming him as the best he's ridden.
"The way he's won, coming from a long way back, passing by them and not even being hit by the whip – wow! He's such an amazing horse. He has a great turn of foot and the way he won today gives me the feeling that he's the best horse I've ever sat on," he said.
"I was never worried in the race and knew exactly what I was doing. I have a lot of faith in this horse and knew he was just going to come over the top of them. He has that kind of stride, a really big stride. I knew that if he put it all together he was just going to run over the top."
A $550,000 Inglis Easter purchase from the draft of Turangga Farm, Able Friend has the impressive record of eight wins and five placings from 14 starts and there may be bigger wins to come.
"To see the facile win today was just amazing and I'm just a very lucky person. This horse has a turn of foot as he can relax through his races. He's not spending a penny – you just show him daylight and he's got an explosive kick. Some of the horses today were serious horses and I think I've got one of the better milers on the planet," said John Moore.
"It will be the Stewards' Cup next and I'll do my utmost to convince the owner
to go for the Dubai Duty Free but that might be a long lunch and a lot of
alcohol. We're so happy we've got him in the yard and we look forward to better
things."He is the first winner for stakes-winning Volksraad (GB) mare Ponte Piccolo, who has since been on-sold by Turangga Farm and the story of her new owners is here.
They will offer a yearling filly by Manhattan Rain from Ponte Piccolo at Inglis Easter in the Fairview Park Stud draft and the mare has produced a colt by Dalakhani (IRE) this spring.
A proven source of Group I winners, Stuart Ramsey's Turangga Farm will be selling at the 2015 Magic Millions and to find out more about their stunning draft click here.
