Dissident Scores Dominant 2014 Memsie Stakes Win

Talented entire Dissident has returned to racing with a dominant win in the 2014 Memsie Stakes at Caulfield this afternoon.

Dissdent has scored a dominant win to top the Memsie Stakes results

Dissdent has scored a dominant win to top the Memsie Stakes results. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia

Dissident was only set for the Group 1 Memsie Stakes (1400m) after he was scratched from the Group 2 Warwick Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick last weekend, but he stamped himself as one of the leading weight-for-age contenders for the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival with an emphatic victory.

Jockey Ben Melham settled Dissident in third position in the early stages of the race, while Sweet Idea and Moment Of Change took up the running, and he showed an outstanding turn-of-foot to race well clear of the rest of the field and score his second Group 1 victory from a typically game Sweet Idea and an impressive Puissance De Lune.

Peter Moody said yesterday that Dissident was ready to run a big race in the Memsie Stakes and the leading Melbourne trainer said after the race that the son of Sebring way capable of developing into a genuine weight-for-age star.

“He has trained on terrific since his three-year-old year and he has really furnished nicely,” Moody said.

“He had a terrific winter in Queensland and my staff have done a tremendous job.

“He is a high class colt, had conditions to suit and it is just terrific to see them bounce back like that.

“The world is his oyster, that was a top class field and he put them to the sword and really got the job done.

“He has mixed it with the best of his age at three and everyone has had a doubt on that, but he has taken on the good old weight-for-age horses here and he has dead set put them to the sword.

“He is an outstanding looking individual and he deserves his place in any weight-for-age field in the country on the back of that performance.”

Moody said last month that the Group 1 Cox Plate (2040m) is set to be the major 2014 Spring Racing Carnival target for Dissident, but the in-form trainer acknowledged that the four-year-old still needs to prove that he is capable of running out a strong 2040 metres.

“He has got to show to us that he is capable of running a mile and a quarter,” Moody said.

“We will enjoy today and we will map out the rest of the spring as he goes on.”

Melham was booked to ride Dissident in the Memsie Stakes and, just like he did with equine superstar Black Caviar in the 2010 Patinack Farm Classic, scored a Group 1 victory in his first ride on the talented entire.

Melham paid tribute to the work that Moody has done with Dissident and thanked the trainer for all that he had done for his riding career.

“Not only is he a good trainer Pete, but he is very loyal,” Moody said.

“Thanks has got to go to him because he has been a good supporter of mine the whole way through and it is good to be back here today riding Group 1 winners for him.

“They ran along at a distance clip, but it sort of suits his style because he is not a horse that you can stop and go on.

“He really powered through the line today and he gave me a terrific feel.”

The win was Moody’s second in the Memsie Stakes after he took out the 2011 edition of the race with King’s Rose.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.