Jason Manning’s Noir De Rue shows class winning first up at Fannie Bay

TRAINER Jason Manning’s Noir De Rue showed his first-up class riding away from the competition to take the win in the feature race two Queen’s Birthday Race Day Handicap (1200m) at Fannie Bay

Noir De Rue won the feature race 2 Queens Birthday Race Day Handicap 1200m with jockey Vanessa Arnott for trainer Jason Manning Photo: Caroline Camilleri

TRAINER Jason Manning’s Noir De Rue showed his first-up class riding away from the competition to take the win in the feature race two Queen’s Birthday Race Day Handicap (1200m) at Fannie Bay.

The six-year-old with jockey Vanessa Arnott aboard dictated the pace for the majority of the race holding in the front group before breaking free on the final straight.

The Mark Nyhan trained Trident with apprentice jockey Alice Lindsay held onto the pace for the longest.

But the eventual second place runner was dispatched along the closing straight alongside the early favourite Angela Forster’s Spielberg.

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Manning was pleased with the result from his first up runner who was acquired with a potential Darwin Cup run in mind.

“He’s a really nice horse. We brought four or five months ago with the target of winning a Darwin Cup,” Manning said.

“He had some serious form in Perth and today was just a lovely kick off for him in Darwin. He did a treat after his trial and put them away in this race.

“We thought the 1200m might have been a little short but it was a nice small field so exciting times leading into the Cup.

“He hasn’t missed a beat since he’s arrived. He had a good spell and has acclimatised. He is a frontrunner over a longer distance which allowed him to dictate the pace in the race.”

Neil Dyer’s Kaonic came in four trailing off the leading group around the bend alongside Greg Connor’s Trystoff.

Forster and Dyer’s second runners Lake Jackson and Montaser respectively rounded out the race.

TRNT CEO Andrew O’Toole said the lead up to the Darwin Cup Carnival had seen a real boost in rider and trainer numbers.

“It’s full steam ahead for us. There’s a whole load of horses coming up which is fantastic to see after last year where we couldn’t get as many,” O’Toole said.

“the caravan park is filling up and the stables are almost full so there’s plenty coming along.

“We have some of the usual offenders coming up from down south alongside some newer names who are bringing bigger teams of horses so it is shaping up to be an exciting Carnival.

“We’ve been a bit lucky with the lockdowns. A lot of Victorians got out before the lockdowns were put in place so we haven’t faced too many issues there.”

Meanwhile other winners at Fannie Bay included, Testino (trainer Tayarn Halter, jockey Dylan Stanley), Moscow Mule (Garry Lefoe, Jason Lyon), Soldierofthebrave (Gary Clarke, Alice Lindsay).