There is no end to the form of Tina Mortensen’s yard this season. The trainer, who moved her string from Aalborg to Odense after last season, turned up at Aarhus on Saturday evening with four runners, and three of them won – with Diego Pedroza in the saddle every single time. The crowning moment was the evening’s feature, Ritmester Frigaards Mindeløb over 2150 metres, where Silver Wings (Appel Au Maitre) collected the DKK 25,000 first prize for Lokalebasen.dk A/S.
Silver Wings defied his 65 kilos and crossed the line a good four lengths clear of Lea Olsen’s Garlic (Outstrip), who two weeks ago won the Spar Nord Arena Champion Stakes at Aalborg himself.
A good length further back came Rikke Rohbach Bonde-trained Lady Macallan (Al Shemali) in third, while Melissa Vesterholm’s Irish Supreme (Supremacy) was fourth.
Silver Wings was bred in Sweden by Pernilla Nilsson and is out of Lana Jolie (Whipper).
It was therefore about as big an evening as it gets for the husband-and-wife team of Jakob Dalhoff and Maria Stetsyk, who are behind Lokalebasen.dk A/S.
Already in the opening maiden for two-year-olds over 1400 metres, Maria and Jakob had landed their first success, when the two-year-old Storm Shadow (Appel Au Maitre) won on her debut.
She is both owned and bred by Lokalebasen.dk, and she is a full sister to the three-year-old Red Moondancer, who this year has been third in both the Danish Derby and the Jydsk Derby.
Storm Shadow is out of Matchoffice, and she won by a good length from Lea Olsen-trained Priscilla Torkdahl (Appel Au Maitre).
Lea Olsen also had the horses in third and fourth, Bianca Torkdahl (State Of Rest) and Chacaya (Appel Au Maitre).
Mortensen’s third winner came in the evening’s closing race, Lena Frandsens 90 års Fødselsdagsløb over 2000 metres, and it was won by the narrowest possible margin.
Sussi Hald’s Call Me Al (Al Shemali) defied top weight of 65 kilos and held Ann-Charlotte Wedsgaard-trained Cloudy Sky (Cloth Of Stars) at bay by a short head, with only a head back to Napoleon (Al Shemali).
The fourth Mortensen runner, Elkær Stutteri’s Lexington Avenue (Jimmy Creed), was third in Henrik Brendholdts 60 års Fødselsdagsløb.
Lea Olsen recorded a training double, and on both occasions Mikkel Mortensen was in the saddle.
In the second division of Elkær Stutteri Fuldblodsfonds 3-årsserie over 1550 metres, Viktors Dream (Giant Sandman) won by a length and a half from Rikke Rohbach Bonde’s Sir Pablo (Magician), with a further six lengths back to Red Mantel (Red Cactus).
Viktors Dream was bred by Stutteri Hjortebo and is owned by Niels Jørgen Bønlykke and Flemming Viktor Andersen. Dream On Sally was a non-runner.
In the Class 4 handicap came Olsen’s second winner, when Warrior (Evasive) – in whom the trainer is herself a part-owner – won by just under three lengths from Callmebymyname (Reliable Man) and Familien Fruergård’s Record Breaker (Giant Sandman).
Henrik Brendholdts 60 års Fødselsdagsløb over 1550 metres was won by Ann-Charlotte Wedsgaard-trained Galileo Charm (Galileo Gold), who in Stald Søndervang’s colours and under Nicolaj Stott pulled three lengths clear of Sarah Langholm Hornstrup’s Good Riddance (Al Shemali).
It was Stott’s only winner on the day, but he was in the frame in five of the six races – in addition to the win there were seconds in the three-year-old series, the Class 4 handicap and the closing birthday race, plus third with Lady Macallan.
The sire of the evening was Appel Au Maitre, who was responsible for both the feature winner and the first, second and fourth home in the two-year-old race.
Al Shemali ran him close, though: he supplied the winner of the closing handicap plus three placed horses across the evening.
