A mid-race skirmish failed to stop Darci Brahma from kicking off his 3-year-old campaign in winning vein in yesterday's $100,000 Golan Hawkes Bay Guineas.
Only six horses contested the 1400m Group Two event but the incident almost knocked the favourite, Darci Brahma, out of the race.
D'Lanach was racing on
the pace near the inside rail when he brushed the running rail, bounced off and then crashed into it again.
Leith Innes was lucky to stay on D'Lanach because Darci Brama, who was directly behind, slammed into its hindquarters.
"My horse hit the other one with real force and I felt everything in his body go flat," Darci Brahma's jockey Michael Walker said. "To pick himself up from that and still win was a huge performance."
Darci Brahma, a $1.1million sales purchase, had to call on all his star qualities to run down the second favourite, Dr Green.
The latter had a clear run outside the leaders and looked the likely winner when Hayden Tinsley shot him clear early in the home straight. But Darci Brahma went after him and gradually wore him down before getting in the deciding stride.
Only a long head separated the two at the line. Third-placed Captain Kurt was 3 1/4 lengths further back.
Darci Brahma has now had seven starts for five wins, a second and a fourth.
Trainer Mark Walker said the Danehill colt would go to Trentham for the Wellington Guineas (1600m) on October 22 and then to Riccarton for the Group One New Zealand 2000 Guineas (1600m).
Jurys Out earned a trip to Christchurch for the $250,000 Couplands Bakeries Mile with a tenacious win in the listed GR Kelt Memorial (1400m).
The big Faltaat gelding got home by a nose over favourite Cog Hill but it was a gutsy performance.
Rider Noel Harris said he was trying to hold Jurys Out up as long as possible in the straight but had to go for the horse slightly earlier than he wanted.
Cog Hill's rider, Leith Innes, said the horse would improve from that run and he also is going to Riccarton.
Jurys Out had a disappointing trip to Melbourne during the winter, failing twice on wet tracks, before returning to New Zealand and bouncing back to form.
- HERALD ON SUNDAY
