Victoria Derby (Group 1)

JOHNNY Allen maintained his remarkable record in Derbys winning his ninth in Saturday’s Victoria Derby over 2,500 metres on the Maurice colt Hitotsu, his 14th Group 1 win.

One off the fence and midfield in the run, Hitotsu was shuffled back to second last on the bend as Johnny Allen got to work navigating a path through his 15 rivals. Drifting in and drifting out, Allen found the door ajar between Teewaters and Forgot You, the latter coping a bump on the way through.

Once in the clear Hitotsu was full gas, sweeping over the top of Godolphin’s Alegron to defeat the Teofilo gelding by almost two lengths as the Dundeel gelding Teewaters ran on for third.

Needed a gap

“He was travelling that well, I just needed a gap, but once he got out, the rest is history. I always had a big belief in this horse. When I got off at his (1,350 metre) maiden at Donald (276 km from Flemington) I actually said, “gee, this lad could nearly win the Derby”, and thankfully we were right. He’s just a classy horse. I’ve no doubt he is good enough to win a Group 1 over a mile.”

Trained by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Hitotsu was a $100,000 Gold Coast Magic Millions purchase by trainer Wendy Kelly, who later sold-on the Maurice colt to an Ozzie Kheir syndicate in March following three unplaced runs in group races.

The win came at cost with Allen’s interference to Forget You resulting in a nine-meeting suspension meaning he missed Oaks Day and today’s final day of the Flemington carnival.