HARADASUN SHINES AGAIN

Star Fusaichi Pegasus 3-year-old Haradasun (3c, Fusaichi Pegasus-Circle of Gold, by Marscay) was responsible for another mouth-watering performance when coming from last-to-first around the extreme outside of a seven horse field to take the Listed MRC Wellington R.C. Stakes over 1400m virtually as he pleased.

The ‘talking horse’ of Australian racing following five exceptional exhibitions of galloping for four wins and one desperately unlucky second placing, Haradasun raced to the line two and three-quarter lengths ahead of his nearest rival in the time of 1m22.69s. Illustrating his undoubted potential is the fact that El Segundo, Australia’s leading older horse of the current racing season, took 0.55 of a second longer to claim the weight-for-age Group One MRC C.F. Orr Stakes over the same course and distance some four races later.

Winning jockey Nash Rawiller revealed after the contest: “I didn’t have to do much on him. With 59kg on his back I didn't want him to have a gut-buster, but I did it easily.” Explaining the safety-first tactics his rider adopted, trainer Tony Vasil said: “He took no chances. He navigated the whole field and took no risk of getting tangled up.”

Betting agencies now have Haradasun as short as 11/10 for the Group One VRC Australian Guineas (1600m) to be staged at Caulfield on March 10. The Fusaichi Pegasus colt also heads the pre-post market for the Group One AJC Doncaster Handicap (1600m) --- Australia’s premier contest staged over a metric mile --- for which he is currently quoted at 9/2 favourite.