20 September 2008
A stylish win by the Danroad filly, Emma’s Dilemma, in the 800m two-year-old event at Riccarton on Saturday has shown again that successful jockey Gavin McKeon is a good judge of horseflesh.
Emma’s Dilemma is the first horse ever purchased by McKeon from the auction ring and has proven a great buy for the jockey who rode champion racemare Seachange throughout most of her fabulous racing career.
The Cambridge-based rider paid only $3200 for Emma’s Dilemma from the 2007 New Zealand Bloodstock Weanling Sale at Karaka where she was put forward for sale by Hamilton’s Highview Stud.
“I liked her a lot as a weanling and my original idea was to turn around and sell her as a yearling but instead we ended up keeping her,” McKeon said.
“She was a nice type of filly and had a good pedigree which is why I bought her,” he said.
“I also wanted to buy a two-year-old type and I knew her sire, Danroad, was a very good two-year-old himself,” he said.
McKeon races Emma’s Dilemma in partnership with his fiancé, Emma Read, her father David Read, and Steve Cross.
David Read and Cross live in Ashburton which is the reason why Emma’s Dilemma was sent south to Riccarton to be trained by Terri Rae.
“I rate Terri very highly as a horse trainer and she’s proving it,” McKeon said.
Emma’s Dilemma (ex Snippets’ Miss by Snippets) was ridden in Saturday’s race by Patrick Holmes. However, McKeon hopes to be aboard the filly himself when she races next at Riccarton on October 26.
The early target for Emma’s Dilemma is the Listed Welcome Stakes at Riccarton on November 15.
Her sire, Danroad, has again demonstrated that he can leave early running types. Last season Danroad sired the Group 1 TJ Smith Classic winner Rockdale who began his three-year-old campaign with an outstanding win against the older horses in a 1400m event at Eagle Farm in Brisbane earlier this month and is now being aimed at the Caulfield Guineas in Melbourne next month.
