She may have been suspect at the staying distance, but Irish bred mare Deny Knowledge (IRE) proved too strong for the rest of the field in the Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup on July 18.

Racing over 2350m for the first time in her 34 start career, the European import was aided by a brilliant ride by Group 1 winning jockey Blake Shinn in his only race during the 2024 XXXX July Racing Carnival.

A natural leader, Deny Knowledge (IRE) was taken to the front by Shinn in a decisive midrace move after the pace began to slacken and the six-year-old daughter of Pride Of Dubai never relinquished it, holding off a determined challenge from Touristic (GB), who appeared a genuine threat inside the final two furlongs, to win the feature event by just over half a length on the line.

Thalassophile ran third, almost five lengths behind the first two placegetters.

Trained in partnership by Anthony and Sam Freedman, who recently took charge of the mare following her purchase by the Chinese owned Yulong Investments for $500000 at the 2024 Magic Millions National Broodmare Sale earlier this year, Deny Knowledge (IRE) took her prizemoney past $925000 following her win in the Westlawn Finance Grafton Cup.

Renowned for being a temperamental mare, Shinn was complimentary of her parade and presentation in the mounting yard prior to the race last week and gave full credit to her new trainers and their team for preparing her in fantastic order.

“Her manners out on the track and in the race were perfect,” Shinn revealed.

“I was able to put her where I wanted her (in the field), and at the distance she was a little bit suspect, so I thought if I was going to burn the candle at both ends it was going to be hard, and the pressure inside the first 300m was quite quick, so when they (early leaders) backed off the tempo I made the decision to let her roll forward and from there I was confident a long way out.”

After previously winning the race on board Mr O’Ceirin (NZ) in 2013 and with Bonfire (GB) in 2015, Shinn said it was great to be back in Grafton for the July Racing Carnival once again and complimented the atmosphere of the occasion.

“It’s always nice to come here and support the event,” he said.

This article appeared in the  Clarence Valley Independent, 24 July 2024.