Fine effort by Vite Cheval

Press, 23 April 1984, Page 19

Fine effort by Vite Cheval

NZPA Sydney The New Zealand milers, Andaman and Shifnal Prince, are to go home for spells after a luckless tilt at the $150,000 Doncaster Handicap at Randwick on Saturday. Andaman took a searing whiplash across the eyes in the home straight, effectively ending his usual late charge, while the luck ran out for Shifnal Prince when the rain began to fall in Sydney on Friday.

The Doncaster was won in fine style by the former New Zealander, Vite Cheval, which proved his last-start win was no fluke by running down the leaders of a torrid 1600 m on the line. Much of the colour was taken from the feature with the scratching of champions, Sir Dapper and Emancipation, the New Zealander, Clear Gold, and the Vice Regal gelding, Prolific.

The officially “dead” track put out the first three, with Prolific being kept for the A.J.C. Derby today. Vite Cheval, which burst on to the Australian racing scene with a win in the Queensland Sires Produce Stakes as a two-year-old last year, went out 7-2 fav-

ourite on Saturday to complete his, return to form following a winter virus. The little colt did not have it easy when he stepped into the classy Doncaster field, and he had to battle all the way to peg back the flying leaders to score by a nose from the Sea Anchor mare, Royal Regatta, with the Sovereign Edition entire, Sovereign Chief, third. In a roughly-run race, Vivacite and the former New Zealand jockey, Brent Thomson almost fell. The harshest treatment was meted out to the tough little New Zealander, Andaman, which on Saturday night was sporting two badly lacerated eyes.