Darwin Cup could finally be within the grasp of Noir De Rue
It could be a case of third time lucky for the Jason Manning-trained Noir De Rue in this year’s $200,000 Darwin Cup (2050m).
The eight-year-old gelding is the one to beat come August 7 after sealing the $60,000 Chief Minister’s Cup (1600m) at Fannie Bay on Saturday.
Since 2002, nine of the past winners of the Chief Minister’s Cup (WFA) have gone on to win the Darwin Cup.
The Nicole Irwin-trained Highly Decorated did it in 2021 followed by the Gary Clarke-trained Playoffs last year.
Noir De Rue finished fourth in the Chief Minister’s Cup two years ago after winning over 1200m in open company on his NT debut before coming third in the Darwin Cup.
The son of Blackfriars then headed to South Australia where he raced on seven occasions for three seconds at Morphettville before returning to Fannie Bay where he finished third in the ROANT Gold Cup (1300m) in June.
He then finished third in the Chief Minister’s Cup before coming fourth in the Darwin Cup.
Victory by 6.3 lengths over 1300m in open company on Melbourne Cup Day was followed by another win over 1600m (BM76) on November 19 when he lumped 63.5kg.
With 64kg on his back, the former WA galloper returned in March and finished a narrow second behind the smart Poupee over 1300m (BM76) before returning for a third Darwin Carnival.
Boasting a rating of 92, Noir De Rue (62.5kg) was nothing short of spectacular in the ROANT Gold Cup on July 1 when he was four lengths behind the leader in sixth place with 200m to go before producing extraordinary speed over the final 100m to claim victory.
Noir De Rue lined up in his third Chief Minister’s Cup with a rating of 96, but with all 10 starters carrying 59kg it came as no surprise that he started as the $2.35 favourite.
Vanessa Arnott, Manning’s partner and Noir De Rue’s regular rider when he appears in Darwin, settled the horse in fifth place on the fence on Saturday after jumping from the inside gate as Clarke’s Siakam and Neil Dyer’s Hettinger held a handy lead.
Passing the 800m, Noir De Rue made ground prior to exiting the back straight and was fourth after passing Clarke’s Thought Of That down the side before moving up to third at the 500m after giving Clarke’s Grandslam the slip.
In-form duo Siakam and Hettinger were still three lengths clear at the 400m approaching the home turn, but Noir De Rue and fourth-placed Sanblas, a former NT Derby winner, were bridging the gap.
Once negotiating the final bend, Noir De Rue left the fence as he and Sanblas set sail after the leaders and with 300m to go four horses were locked together out in front.
Meanwhile, Alice Springs Cup winner Write Your Name – aiming to secure connections a $100,000 bonus by taking out the Chief Minister’s Cup and Darwin Cup as the inaugural winner of the Territory Treble – was making ground from the back and continued to wind up in the home straight.
However, Noir De Rue had skipped away and with 200m to go victory was assured as he powered away to overcome Heather Lehmann’s $10 hope Sanblas (Adam Nicholls) by 2.8 lengths with Dick Leech’s $11 chance Write Your Name (Mark Pegus) a further 1.2 lengths away in third place.
Arnott punched the air with delight passing the winning post with Manning planting a kiss on the gelding when he returned to scale – it was the couple’s biggest win.
Hettinger ($21), who was stepping up in grade and jumped from the outside gate, just pipped Siakam ($8.50), the 2023 St Patrick’s Day Cup (1600m) and Adelaide River Cup (1600m) winner, for fourth, but in general neither horse could be faulted after setting the early pace.
Noir De Rue was timed at 1.34.62 after Lightinthenite – the 2015 Darwin Cup winner – broke the track record for 1600m by clocking 1.34.53 in the corresponding race eight years ago.
Incredibly, the Chris Nash-trained Dominus (61kg) set a new mark for the 1600m (1.34.22) in June last year when rolling 0-70 opposition by 6.3 lengths.
One can only imagine what weight Noir De Rue, who had eight wins from 52 starts in a highly-competitive WA career for trainers Justin Warwick and Peter Fernie, will received for the Darwin Cup.
Looking ahead to the Darwin Cup, Noir De Rue, who has won from 1200-2200m, Sanblas, a very handy performer in SA, and Write Your Name, the star during the 2023 Alice Springs Carnival, are right in the mix.
Clarke’s Vallabar (seventh), Thought Of That (ninth) and Grandslam (10th), Dyer’s Mohican Heights (eighth), and Sheila Lake’s Folly (sixth) failed to make an impact on Saturday, although stepping up from 1600m to 2050m might prove a different story in three weeks.