Jockey Brenton Avdulla has confirmed that he has been booked to ride Dissident in the 2014 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick on April 19.
Dissident and El Roca are to clash again in the 2014 Doncaster Mile at Royal Randwick during The Championships. Photo by: Steve Hart
Dissident was included in the nominations for the Group 1 Doncaster Mile (1600m), Group 1 Australian Derby (2400m) and Group 1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) that will be held at Royal Randwick during The Championships and connections were unsure what race the Sebring colt would be set for after he finished sixth behind Criterion in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) at Rosehill Gardens last Saturday.
Trainer Peter Moody said last month that he expected Dissident to be stronger over 2000 metres, but the leading Melbourne trainer has elected to drop the three-year-old back to a mile for the Doncaster Handicap.
“Pleased to confirm I will be riding Randwick Guineas winner Dissident in the Doncaster Mile next week for Moody Racing,” Avdulla posted on Twitter this morning.
Dissident made his racing debut with a narrow win over Kuroshio and Thermal Current in the Listed Blue Diamond Preview (1000m) at Caulfield on January 26 and performed consistently without scoring a race win during the 2013 Spring Racing Carnival; finishing second in the Group 3 The Run To The Rose (1200m), second in the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes (1400m) and fourth in the Group 1 Caulfield Guineas (1600m).
The talented colt returned to the races with a strong second behind El Roca in the Listed Eskimo Prince Stakes (1200m) at Rosehill Gardens on March 1 and broke through for just the second victory of his career in the Group 2 Hobartville Stakes (1400m) at the same venue on March 1.
Despite his strong Hobartville Stakes victory, Dissident was a drifter in betting in the lead-up to the Group 1 Royal Randwick Guineas (1600m) on March 15, but he fought home strongly to score a narrow win from El Roca and claim his maiden victory at Group 1 level.
Dissident started the Rosehill Guineas as equal favourite with Puccini and found a good spot early in the race, but was unable to show his usual acceleration in the final stages of the race; with Moody and jockey Jimmy Cassidy indicating that the colt did not handle the slow Rosehill Gardens surface.
Team Hawkes-trained Messene is currently a clear favourite in 2014 Doncaster Mile betting markets; with Dissident on the sixth line of betting at a quote of $12.
