A week after his remarkable front-running heroics on Pride Of Jenni in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m), in-form jockey Declan Bates pulled off another wire-to-wire performance with New Zealand-bred mare Disturbia in Saturday’s Evergreen Turf Handicap (1600m) at Mornington.
A second placegetter in all of her last three appearances, the four-year-old daughter of Turn Me Loose dominated Saturday’s A$80,000 race from the moment the gates opened. Bates sent her forward from the outside gate and she swept across to the rail and dictated terms throughout.
Disturbia produced a strong kick approaching the home turn and put herself out of the reach of the chasers, keeping up a strong gallop down the Mornington straight to win by a length and three-quarters.
“I’m getting a bit of a reputation for this – it would be nice to ride a winner from the back for a change,” Bates quipped. “But it worked out nicely for this mare today and she toughed it out really well.
“I just let her roll forward from the wide gate. She gave a good kick coming down the side and then sustained it enough to hold them out well.”
Disturbia has now had 23 starts for three wins, nine placings and A$135,480 in stakes.
“We were pretty happy to get Declan on today, we thought he could probably do the job around Mornington,” said Emma-Lee Browne, who trains in partnership with her husband David.
“I’m super proud of this horse. She was up in class today, but she’s as honest as they come. She always puts her hand up and tries very hard. She’s as tough as anything, loves stable life and loves going to the races. We’re just rapt.
“We’re taking it race by race with her, but she’s in a great space at the moment, a great frame of mind, so I don’t see why we wouldn’t keep going in this campaign.”
Browne paid just $2000 to purchase Disturbia on gavelhouse.com in March of 2021. She was bred by Windsor Park Stud and is out of the winning Fastnet Rock mare New Age Rocka – a half-sister to Gr.1 Flight Stakes (1600m) winner Danglissa.
New Age Rocka later produced a colt by Vanbrugh in 2022, and she was served last season by Waikato Stud’s Noverre.