Racing: Plenty of sparkle in victory

Ally Robinson (second from right) recounts some wonderful memories with Ray, Joe and Tony Dennis. Photo / Matt Smith

The Diamond One's part-owner Tony Dennis summed up what many were thinking after the mare's outstanding performance in the listed feature at Wingatui on Thursday. "Good horses do things others can't."

The superlatives kept flowing for the classy 4-year-old, who was shuffled back to last in the 1200m open handicap before flying home to win by three-quarters of a length over Sucre.

The daughter of Tale Of The Cat had not seen a heavy track before Thursday, although that didn't worry her trainer Steven Anderton.

"Her half-sister [The Glitzy One] handles it, but you never know until you put them on it," he said. "I think potentially she's the best horse I'll train on my own."

There was a nostalgic moment for the Dennis brothers, as they were joined on course by their former jockey Ally Robinson, now based in Cambridge.

"I presume it was about 1964-65 when he started riding horses for us," Tony Dennis said. "In the 70s and 80s we had some really good horses - and he rode them all."

The dozens of horses Robinson rode for the Dennis brothers included The Diamond One's great grand-dam, The Dimple, who won the corresponding race back in 1981 beating home Powley.

"They had some real goes over that year," said Dennis.

Robinson moved from jockey to trainer for the brothers and the success continued.

"[The Dimple] went on and left The Grin and Ally trained The Grin for us, and of course The Grin left The Jewel [the dam of The Diamond One].

"We've got no idea how many winners [Robinson] trained for us - in fact, I've got no idea how many winners I've trained myself.

"It was just an automatic thing - he rode our horses. We had a great association with him."

The Jewel was a top performer in her own right, winning the 2005 International Stakes at group one level after winning the 1000 Guineas at Riccarton in 2002.

Her talent has rubbed off on The Glitzy One and The Diamond One, who were both bred in Australia when The Jewel was sent across the Tasman to be served.

The Jewel's mating with Tale Of The Cat was a last-minute decision after failed attempts with Red Ransom. The Jewel caught equine influenza during the 2007 Australian outbreak soon after foaling The Glitzy One and was forced to stay on because of quarantine restrictions.