Decorated Knight colt impressive at Salisbury
30 September 2021
Decorated Knight added yet another impressive winner to his record on Thursday when Wind Your Neck In broke his maiden under Ryan Moore at Salisbury.
Owned by Paul and Clare Rooney and trained by David Evans, Wind Your Neck In was placed on both his earlier starts, including when falling short by only a nose (pair 9 lengths clear of the third) three weeks ago. He made no mistake this time, however, making all the running to bound clear for a three-and-a-half length success from the highly regarded debut winner Israr.
“He was very unfortunate last time and we thought he couldn’t get beat,” David Evans told the Racing Post. “It’s always nice to see them win. It’s a bit of a weight off your shoulders now he’s gone and done it.
“Hollie Doyle rode him first time out and really liked him, she said he could be a stakes horse, and Ryan just confirmed that.
“Experience counts for a lot and he had Ryan Moore on his back, which counts for a lot more.
“He’s something to look forward to next year but he might not run again until then – I’ll leave that to Jason [Maguire, racing manager] and the owners [Paul and Clare Rooney], they’ll decide that one.”
Wind Your Neck In was bred by Oghill House Stud out of Samite, an unraced Distorted Humor daughter of high-class two-year-old Silk Blossom.
Decorated Knight has made an excellent start to his stud career.
His very first runner Silver Bullet Lady was the impressive winner of her debut, a hot conditions race at Salisbury.
Damaar also looked exciting for John Gosden when the easy debut winner of a competitive novice at Sandown Park.
John Gosden has been impressed with what he has seen from Decorated Knight‘s progeny to date.
“Damaar, like other Decorated Knights, has shown a great attitude in his training,” he said, “and displayed it well in his race today.”
Other winners by the stallion include Knight Rider, an impressive recent winner for Kevin Philippart de Foy.
A Galileo relation to champion sire Giant’s Causeway gifted with an exceptional turn of foot, Decorated Knight won three Group 1 races, namely the Irish Champion Stakes, Dubai Sheema Classic and Tattersalls Gold Cup.
Decorated Knight stands at the Irish National Stud.
