When Taylors Sky was entered in the 2011 English Derby he had two Irish and two English races on his card. After the soon of Westmead Hawk had won the final, Nick Savva noted “he has clearly inherited his dad’s brains”
If Taylors Sky’s son and Midlands Puppy Derby winner Rising Brandy goes straight into the 2018 Star Sports English Derby without another race on his card, his racing career will extend to just those three Monmore races. A coincidence?
Trainer Matt Dartnall said: “No, I think there could be something to it. Brandy is such an intelligent dog. Just looking at him, he seems to understand everything that’s going on in the kennel. He is no fuss, a perfect traveler, and that behavior extends to the track.
“In the heats at Monmore he had a dog on his inside at the apex of the bend and he seemed to work out, ‘I’ll bide my time and pick you off on the backstraight’ and that is exactly what he did.
“He has surpassed every challenge I have put in front of him. I said, to be entered at Monmore he has to break 28.50 first look – which is a big ask. But he did it (28.34). With every run I can see him becoming a complete dog.
“The owners are due to visit on Sunday – hopefully with a bottle of champagne – and we will decide exactly what to do next, though the likelihood is that we will run him in the Derby. He is fit and well and yesterday’s race took nothing out of him at all. He is young (Apr ’16), so if nothing else, it will be good experience for next year.
“At this stage, we are assuming that he is a middle seed, but we had nothing to work from. There were no race videos from Ireland to study – he hasn’t even been under lights yet.”
Rising Brandy was bred by David McGrath from Co.Meath out of Irish Oaks runner-up Badminton Girl (Brett Lee-Tas). In her previous litter by Tullymurry Act, the dam threw Longford 550 record breaker – and likely Derby contender Tyrur Harold
Puppy Derby presentation by Monmore’s Paul Mason (right) to owners of Rising Brandy, Alex Antoniou (3rd right) and Paul Bennett (centre) next to trainer Matt Dartnall.Photo: © Steve Nash
