2014 in review, Impressive Racing & Darren McAuliffe

Perth Turf Talk | Metropolitan Racing | Tue 6 January, 2015

2014 has been a year that trainer Darren McAuliffe and the Impressive Racing team will remember for a long time with some fantastic results and the development of a huge family with a common interest.

With plenty of work behind the scenes in recent years, the stable got the due reward with an incredible strike rate and some incredible performances at Ascot, Belmont and Kalgoorlie.

The results and strike rate of the stable are backed up by the current Western Australia Trainer Premiership as it stands (19.12.14).

McAuliffe and the team have the best strike rate out of any trainer in WA with a 23% winning percentage and the team has banked $752,145 in prize money since August 1 with only 74 starters. This works out to be an average earning of $10,028 per starter, which is also the best average of any trainer in the west.

While having some brilliant individual performances and races that will stand out in people’s minds, the key to the McAuliffe stable has been the consistency that each of his runners are able to maintain throughout a campaign.

Fuchsia Bandana gave McAuliffe a group victory when she proved too strong in the Group 3 Northerly Stakes with a dominant performance at Ascot second-up. She showed her consistency through the campaign finishing second in the listed Birthday Stakes first-up, second behind the eventual Winterbottom Stakes winner in the WAROA-Lee Steere Stakes and then fifth in the Group 1 Railway Stakes and the Group 1 Kingston Town Classic, looking the winner at some stages down the straight in both races.

Ram Jam and Express Service are two other horses that benefitted from the McAuliffe-training style with impressive campaigns.

Ram Jam won five races in a row, being undefeated for two months before heading to Kalgoorlie. He didn’t let anyone down finishing second in the Boulder Cup and third in the Kalgoorlie Cup.

Express Service was in a similar boat, announcing himself again with a dominant victory in the Belmont Park Cup, then going on to win the Coolgardie Cup two weeks later and then finishing second in a nail-biting finish with Sireeze in the TABTouch-Hannans Handicap.

Proceedwithcaution provided the team with plenty of smiles in the wet and cold conditions that Belmont Park can provide by winning the Dayana Plate by over two lengths and then winning the Listed Belmont Classic later that month.

With so many solid performances, McAuliffe also gave owners confidence that his future horses were going to maintain the solid performances in years to come.

Rebel King won four in a row at Belmont Park, Rebel Queen won on debut, Military Ruler impressed at Belmont Park, Solar Rule won on debut, Fo Shizzle and Furious Dame competed in listed races and that’s only mentioning a small amount of the positive results from the youngsters in the stable.

The Impressive Racing statistics have led to a huge growth in new owners over 2014 and a vibe and connection amongst the team that isn’t matched by any other stable in Perth.

The ability to discuss a horse on the forum, view videos on facebook or come down and have a beer on-course even when your horse isn’t running, are all aspects of the Impressive Racing team that will ensure the continual growth of this team.

2014 has been a memorable one, but if it’s anything to go by, 2015 is going to have plenty of exciting stories, times and victories to discuss again. 

impressiveracing.com.au

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