Denmark Cup Stays with the Locals
The very happy connections of Nullarbor Navajo after her win in the Denmark Cup. Image: Supplied.
It was a fairy tale ending to the Albany season with local horse Nullarbor Navajo taking out the feature of the night, the MCC Contractors Denmark Cup in a nail-biting finish for the King-Davies family.
The icing on the cake came when the five-year-old recorded her fourth win at Albany this season, finishing the round on 20 points, securing Horse of the Year for her connections. Nullarbor Navajo went into Friday night’s meeting on 16 points, sharing top spot with Fleur Du Maquis and Sanford Tilly, with Sanford Tilly ending the season on 17 points with a third placing in race five.
Trained by Cheyenne King-Davies and owned by her father Ken Davies, Cheyenne acquired the mare as a then yearling through Brett Coffey from Alabar Stud after she was withdrawn from the sales. At the time, King-Davies was living in Victoria, so ‘Bri’ as she is affectionately known around the stables was broken in by Reta Burnett. After deciding that she wanted to make the move back to WA, Ken Davies flew to Melbourne to make the drive back with Cheyenne and two horses: Nullarbor Navajo and Yanaha Navajo.
It hasn’t been all smooth sailing with the often fractious mare, who has encountered her fair share of issues in her short career and after sustaining a serious injury as a youngster, it was then discovered that the wasn’t the smoothest with her gait and was sent to Tim Stone for further education.
“She fractured her leg as a two-year-old and vet considered putting her down as she had a blood infection.” King-Davies said.
Making her debut to racing in November 2020 as a late three-year-old, she broke through for her first win in January 2021 at her home track of Albany, going on to have a further six starts at the track before heading to the paddock.
“She’s a very difficult horse to train. She doesn’t like stables or the track. She loves the sandhills and the beach and she is great with young kids.”
The majority of Nullarbor Navajo’s work is done in the saddle, with Cheyenne confirming that she has only taken the green pacer to the track a handful of times. With access to some of the most picturesque beach tracks to train their horses from, King-Davies believes they are able to train their horses in a unique way that offers variety for their team.
“I rode track work for two years in Melbourne for one of the biggest country trainers and never fell off….”
“Then this little standardbred (Nullarbor Navajo) comes alone and I’ve fallen off her ore times than I can count.”
Nullarbor Navajo was crowned Wagin Horse of the Year last year after winning three in a row at the track, later going on to claim top prize at Albany this weekend with four wins and two second placings at her home base.
“We are blessed to have such a talented horse.”
“It was awesome to have the whole family there to see her win the Denmark Cup, especially on a night where the trophy was donated by Matt Candy who is a close family friend and the Denmark Veterans Basketball team were on course,”
“To have all my family there on that night to celebrate was probably more special to me than the win itself.”
The win secured Reinsperson of the Year for Hayden Hancock, with the 24-year-old taking the win by just one point on the night and securing his first driving premiership since making his debut just three years ago.
“It was great to get winners for local trainers that have stuck by me for the last three years that I have been driving, it makes passing the post first feel extra special.”
Hayden Reeves secured Trainer of the Year for the second year in a row, finishing the season on 99 points with 126 starters for 14 winners and 31 placings at the Great Southern circuit.
“Growing up in Denmark, I spent a lot of my childhood at the Albany Trots, so it does feel quite special taking out trainer of the year down here,”
“It’s a big effort getting such a big team down here for the past 10 weeks, it really wouldn’t have been possible without a great group of people helping.” Reeves said.
Ashleigh Paikos