Dittman proves key to success

Press, 28 December 1989, Page 20

Dittman proves key to success

NZPA-AAP Perth A 400 m burst of Mick Dittman’s most persuasive enforcement won Key Dancer the Group 1 sAustsoo,ooo BMW-Austra-lian Derby (2400 m at Ascot on Tuesday. Dittman, his whip arm working overtime, lifted Key Dancer (9-10 fav) to a short half-head victory over Hard Act (6-4) in what the top Sydney jockey . said was the toughest of his three successive victories in the race. Key Dancer and Hard Act had been considered the only chances in Western Australia’s richest race and from soon after the start they had the result between them. Hard Act adopted his customary front-running role, with Dittman sitting a length behind until passing the 700 m mark. From that point Dittman and the favourite began to apply pressure. But the West Australian, Hard Act, stole a halflength break rounding the turn and Dittman was forced to pull the whip. Riding in the style which has earned him the tag of “The Enforcer,” Dittman gradually forced Key Dancer to join Hard Act and, on the line, put his nose in front. Although confident he had snatched the sAust34l,ooo first prize, Dittman had been less certain of collecting in the surge to the line. “On the turn I reckoned I had him, but 200 m out I thought the leader had me beat,” Dittman said. The win was Dittman’s third in the race and trainer Tommy Smith’s fifth, the pair having combined to win the race for the previous two years. The win is also the biggest success in Australia for American owner John Kluge, who purchased most of Smith’s Tulloch Lodge stable earlier this year. Plans are now for Key 'Dancer to contest the A.J.C. Derby-Sydney Cup double in the autumn.