Debonaire is defined as having charm and sophistication – and for the Fiona Scott’s talented gelding of the same name, it is a fitting moniker.
The son of Pierro, whose name is spelt with two Ns, enjoyed a breakout season at the Kalgoorlie-Boulder Racing Club for Scott, winning five of seven starts.
Despite the Brett Drury-prepared Onemoreforleo narrowly edging out Debonnaire to snatch the KBRC’s Horse of the Year title at the final race meeting of the season, Scott remains proud of her stable star.
“He is quite special, he had a bit of learning to do but he showed a lot of ability and ran up to expectations,” Fiona said.
“I’m thrilled with how he went in the standings, although we aren’t there for honour and glory, we’re there for the horse.”
Onemoreforleo (22 points) claimed the honours ahead of Debonnaire (21) and Zing To Win (20).
Jockey Victoria Corver piloted Debonnaire to his last win of the season in the $24,000 Palace Hotel Gold Rush (1200m) on August 25. The five-year-old gelding wound up down the straight from the rear of the field to narrowly win at the post, getting up over the Peter Fernie-trained Baalbek.
He was then sent out for a well-earned spell following his last unplaced run on September 8.
“His win in the Gold Rush – he came from back in the field and the way it panned out was pretty special,” Scott said.
“We joked that he knows where the winning post is and that’s exactly how it seemed that day, he just kept fighting till he got there.”
Esperance-based Scott has been racing at Kalgoorlie all her life and said there is a great social aspect associated with the race meetings in WA’s historic Goldfields region.
“We love Kalgoorlie, it’s important that people and trainers continue to support the KBRC and all country racing in general,” she said.
Kalgoorlie’s annual Race Round is set to be boosted next year with the inaugural $1 million Golden Saddle slot race being announced last month by the State Government.
It will be Australia’s biggest regional slot race, helping to promote tourism to the Goldfields-Esperance region, adding to the annual $54.3 million that racing in the area already contributes to the WA economy.
