Guillotine into Caulfield Cup

13th September 2008

Talented but at times enigmatic stayer Guillotine (4h Montjeu x Refused the Dance, by Defensive Play) sprung a surprise at Moonee Valley on Saturday when he stormed home to win the Group Two MVRC Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes.

The David Hayes trained entire looked good when resuming from a spell with an easy win over 1200 metres at Cheltenham on August 30, but few punters thought the son of Montjeu would measure up against a gun field at weight-for-age over 1600 metres.

The dashing grey proved them all wrong, powering home to beat Group One winners Casual Pass, Tears I Cry and Maldivian in a thoroughly professional performance, his overall record now four wins from 11 starts with prizemoney of $364,530.

The Dato Tan Chin Nam Stakes victory renders Guillotine exempt from the ballot for the Caulfield Cup, which eases a load from the mind of his trainer.

“He’s exempt from the ballot now and he’ll get in down on the minimum somewhere (50kg) like that and it makes the Cups a very attractive proposition,” said Hayes.

“We’ll only get one chance at a Caulfield Cup with such a light weight because next year he’ll get weighted as a Group Two winner.”

An eye-catching individual, very much in the mould of his famous Melbourne Cup winning half-brother Efficient, Guillotine may yet deliver on the promise he has always shown for owners Les Samba and Ron Medich, who transferred the horse to David Hayes from David Payne at the end of his last campaign.

The son of Montjeu was secured by Samba for $300,000 from the draft of Curraghmore Stud at the 2006 NZB Premier Yearling Sale.

He is the fourth foal of stakes-placed Defensive Play mare Refused the Dance, a half-sister to stakes-winner Dancing Flojo from the imported American stakes-winner Florida Jig.

Guillotine is one of 52 stakes-winners by Montjeu, who shuttled to Windsor Park Stud in New Zealand for four seasons and is now permanently based at Coolmore in Ireland where he commands a fee of 125,000 euros.