Filly gives Durrant win No.99
A filly rescued from the brink of death has brought leading trainer Adam Durrant within one victory of achieving 100 winners in a season for the first time.
Nardini delivered Durrant his 99th win when showing the fight that helped her survive a nasty bout of colic to score in yesterday's Westspeed Handicap (1000m) at Belmont Park.
Coasting to his fourth Perth trainers' premiership with 67 city wins, Durrant is poised to join an elite group of trainers in Australia with 100 winners this season.
Darren Weir, Chris Waller, Peter Moody, Peter Snowden, Gai Waterhouse and Mick Price are the only other trainers to achieve the feat. "That was the plan before the start of the season and I'm looking forward to it," Durrant said.
Durrant heads to Northam today in search of his 100th winner, with Youknowthedrill, Paddy and Hollywoodland engaged.
The Group 1-winning trainer's strike rate of 23.7 per cent - one winner for every 4.2 starters - is the best of those with more than 100 winners this season.
Nardini, an $80,000 graduate from the 2012 Gold Coast yearling sale, was struck down by a near-fatal bout of colic when being floated across the Nullarbor.
"She was stuck out near Kalgoorlie and the insurance company said they wouldn't cover her if she died," Durrant said.
"I got in the truck at 5pm to go get her and she was all but dead by the time we got her to Murdoch Uni at about 3am.
"They opened her up to operate on her and saved her life."
Durrant said Nardini's connections, which include former Fremantle coach Mark Harvey, are set to be rewarded for their patience.
Nardini ($2.35 favourite) picked herself up off the canvas after being headed at the 200m to beat Jest Envy Her ($20) by half-a-length yesterday.
The Bernadini three-year-old is unbeaten from two starts at her second preparation. She won a maiden at Northam by four lengths last month.
"She's really up-and-coming this girl," Durrant said.
"We're still learning about the horse. It's still early days."
Durrant will consider the $100,000 WAROA Belmont Guineas (1600m) on Saturday week for Nardini, despite the sharp rise in distance.
"She should run a mile or even 2000 metres," Durrant said.
"She was stuck out near Kalgoorlie … all but dead by the time we got her to Murdoch Uni ..." " Trainer *Adam Durrant * on Nardini
