George Daly has been preparing winners out of his Ascot stables since the 1970s and he’s still going strong with the likes of Husson filly Mireille.
Mireille (3f Husson – Admirable by Magic Albert) is a homebred for Daly and his brother Wally and is heading for higher marks after a last-start victory in the Westspeed Hcp (1000m) at Belmont.
Still in her first preparation, she overhauled front-runner Boston To Rio (Oratorio) to win running away by over two lengths. “She’s speedy and tough and likes the sting out of the ground,” Daly said. “Peter (Knuckey) liked the way she had been working and I think he could smell a win with her.”
Mireille may have one more start before Daly tips her out for Ascot and he’s confident she can pick up a nice race after the carnival.
Daly has Husson’s 2yo sister to Mireille in the pipeline and he also prepares Star Of Husson who just failed to run down Woken by a long neck over 1600m at Belmont on Saturday.
Star Of Husson (3f Husson – Star Of Danetime by Danetime) is from the immediate family of G1 Victoria Derby winner Plastered and will appreciate stepping up to middle distances this campaign.
Like Mireille, her dam also has a 2yo (colt) by Vinery stallion Husson.
Husson (Hussonet) was undefeated Champion 2YO in Chile and was Australia’s Champion first-season sire by winners in 2011-12.
Daly trained his first Group 1 winner when Little Imagele (Imagele) claimed the 1981 Western Mail Classic at Ascot. The following year Kingston Town won the same race that now carries his name.
Another stable star Surtee won the 1992 Ngawyni Quality at Ascot before travelling east to register black-type victories in Sydney (G2 San Domenico St), Brisbane (G3 Coca Cola Classic) and Melbourne (G3 Victoria Hcp).
Day stood him at Korilya Stud in conjunction with Ellie Giles and he was finally pensioned aged 23 earlier this year.
The stable sourced another Group 1 winner when Jacks Or Better (Curravilla) annexed the 1994 Karrakatta Plate and 1995 Railway Stakes.
