Dual Chamber full of heart

Dual Chamber gets the win on the outside (Noel Pascoe photo)

The connections of Dual Chamber knew they’d made the right decision after the two-year-old filly crossed the line first in the www.qtc.org QTIS 2YO Fillies Handicap 1000m at Eagle Farm on Saturday, November 11.

“The owners bred her and it was a really big day for them because obviously when you breed the horse and they show that sort of promise it’s exciting,” said trainer Maryann Thexton.

“They’re a lovely couple, just a young couple, they’re breeding and it’s exciting for them to be able to breed and race,” said Thexton.

Owned and bred by Tipuana Farms, they came up with a creative name for Dual Chamber as she’s by Show a Heart out of Strong of Heart. “It was a clever name,” said Thexton.

“We knew that she would probably find it a little bit short for her and we certainly weren’t sure how she’d handle the track and to be honest I nearly didn’t run her.”

But again the right decision was made with the filly’s kitty filled with $53,000 for the win, including $21,000 QTIS bonus.

“She’s been in for a while and she’s not a big robust filly,” said Thexton.

“I said to the owners if it’s wet I’d seriously consider sending her to the paddock without the run because I didn’t want to really flatten her before she went out.”

“But then I thought about it and I thought well we knew she got back and got home really well last start even thought she did a lot wrong.

“I thought if we can improve on that a few lengths which I thought we would, she could easily be in the frame and pick up some prizemoney for the owners and that was the logic of running her.”

Dual Chamber didn’t get a great start from barrier six and settled with the backmarkers in the sprint race. Apprentice Matthew Palmer was onboard and they moved up in the straight and went around to get to the front.

It became a battle of the apprentices in the last few strides as Dual Chamber fought on to pass Fairchild, ridden by Chris McIver, to win by a neck.

“We were thrilled that she got home so strongly. She really did well,” said Thexton.

“She’s a little bit temperamental this filly, we had some barrier problems with her last start so I talked to Matthew about how to just be very soft on her and nurse her because she’s a little bit sensitive.”

“I said you’ve got to do everything for her and keep her neat on the turn because she rolls out and she does thing wrong and that wrong.

“Try and let her find her feet and then ride her strongly to the line.

“He did a good job on trying to hold her together and she’s not overly balanced yet so there’s still improvement in her.”

Crystal Honour (Ryan Wiggins) and First Option (Ken Pope) battled it out for third four and half lengths behind and the photo finish bestowed Crystal Honour with the place.

“The plan is for her to have a spell so we’re sending her to paddock,” said Thexton.

“We haven’t completely eliminated the McDougall as an option and so she’ll go for a freshen up for a week and then we’ll make a decision at the end of the week based on her.

“She’ll tell us if she’s happy if we can bring her back in and run her in the McDougall.

“She’s not Magic Millions qualified so either way she’ll be in the paddock before the year’s out and we’ll bring her back for the Winter Carnival.”

Fellow runner Disputed Bid, by Show A Heart, was also bred by Dual Chamber’s owners and finished fifth in the race.

“They had to choose which horse to keep and which one to sell,” Thexton said.

“They said to me before the race we just hope we’ve kept the right one but after the race they were extremely happy.”

QUEENSLAND Racing web news: Hollie Roberts – November 24