Gybe pulls off plunge for Cummings and McDonald

Saturday, 9 July 2011: Talented filly Gybe was well backed and equally well ridden to victory by star kiwi apprentice James McDonald in the $70,000 Rob Woodruff Handicap (1200m) at Randwick on Saturday.

Photo by Racing and Sports

Trained by Anthony Cummings, Gybe was well backed from $4.20 into $2.80 favourite with bookmakers and McDonald made sure the plunge came off with a little pearler of a ride.

Jumping from the second widest draw, McDonald did brilliant to get the well backed favourite one off the fence in fourth position by the time the field settled.

McDonald held his filly together, two length behind race leader Yoburg and waited for the field to enter the straight before asking for Gybe's best effort.

Passing the 350m McDonald pulled Gybe out but she didn't respond straight away and Noble Edict (Spriggs), coming from behind Gybe loomed larger on her outside and looked like going straight past.

Luckily for connections Gybe was just winding up and after changing stride at the 250m she really started to stretch out and after levelling up to the leaders at the 200m Gybe kicked away to score an impressive win.

At the line there was a margin of three quarters of a length to See The World (Schofield) with a half-length to Noble Edict in third place. The overall time was 1.11.40 with the last 600m covered in 35.37.

“She was a stakes winner at her first race start and she is showing her quality here by carrying weights against the older horses and she is headed to some of the mare's races during the upcoming spring carnival,” Cummings said.

“She had run some real nice races since her first-up run without much luck, bad barriers and tracks and she has come back in grade and has really gone on from there.

“In her first win she come from worse than midfield and was wide that day and it was a great win but today she was a length away and ready to pounce.”

“She is a nice little filly, she is a half to our superstar filly (Anabandana) in New Zealand, I have won on her so it is nice to be on this one,” McDonald said. “She really accelerated when I asked her and she won really well.

“I have been really lucky, I have had the support of Anthony and the Hawkes team and others so it has been a good trip over.”

Gybe  is by Fastnet Rock out of Great Notice (USA) and is a half to star juvenile Anabandana, the first horse to sweep New Zealand's four juvenile features. Gybe is owned Dorrington Farm Synd (Mgr: R J Crabtree), S Morvan, C Jamieson, A Crabtree, M Crabtree, J Wilson & F Ellis.