Dobbinair produces electric win at Murray Bridge on Saturday

Three-year-old galloper Dobbinair was given little hope as a $31 shot but won like an odds-on favourite at Murray Bridge on Saturday.

Dobbinair showed an electric turn of foot in the second at Murray Bridge. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

You won’t have seen much of a more impressive win around the country on Saturday than what maiden galloper Dobbinair produced in the second event at Murray Bridge.

The bookmakers gave the three-year-old son of Grunt little hope as a $31 chance at start No.2 but he won like the odds-on favourite when flashing from a mile back to get the win right on the line.

Shane Cahill, who trains in partnership with his wife Chelsea, told Racing.com he was quietly confident going to the races on Saturday but was just put off by the wide barrier.

As it ended out, the barrier didn’t matter one bit with Dobbinair winning like a horse that will continue to do so as he gets more race experience.

Dobbinair unleashes a sharp turn of foot, causing an upset result at Murray Bridge! 😳 pic.twitter.com/XCZw0nNs64

— Racing.com (@Racing) December 21, 2024

“He’s always been a little hot-headed in a way and he’s still very new with everything,” Cahill said.

“Today I knew he would still do things wrong and from and awkward gate I didn’t have much confidence.

“And he still did things wrong but he put them away and he did it quite impressively too.

“He’s got a beautiful, big action and I keep saying that I think he’s going to be a really nice miler and one that can probably settle on speed as well.

“He’s got a motor but it’s just his head we’ve got to try and harness and I think he’s got a future.”

Trackwork with a stablemate showed Cahill of his toughness and determination early on in his career and it’s why he wasn’t surprised with what the galloper produced at over the 1000m contest.

Shane Cahill believes Dobbinair is a miler in the making. Picture: Makoto Kaneko

“I measure every horse when I break them in from Morty’s (stablemate) ability of how he feels underneath you and how he comes up the hill up home,” Cahill said.

“It’s quite a testing hill and not many of the young horses can come up it that well and Morty’s the only horse that flows up it and makes it feel like it’s a flat track but this horse wasn’t far behind him.

“He gets through the soft sand at home quite well so I’m confident he’ll handle wet tracks too.”

As for future plans with Dobbinair, he admits he doesn’t want to tire the galloper out and thinks he could return in the autumn and be competitive.

“He gets quite excited so I reckon you could fry him pretty easily so we’ll just see how he does over the next couple of days,” Cahill said.

“We don’t have anything set in stone but there is a nice three-year-old race in town for home in the next few weeks.

“He could also have a bit of a break over Christmas and come back in the autumn as well.”

A race later saw stakes performer Seeking Stardom break through to win the Christmas Cup (1600m).

The Andrew Gluyas-trained mare didn’t have it easy with the leader kicking but she was able to knuckle down over the final furlong to snare the first placed prizemoney in the $65,000 event.

Originally published as Dobbinair produces electric win at Murray Bridge on Saturday