TEAM VIGOUROUX'S $61 CANBERRA WINNER

SUNDAY: April 24, 2022: HUSBAND and wife training partners Phil and Tara Vigouroux brought off a $61 upset at Canberra last Friday.

But whilst their late bloomer Izfallingdown’s victory in the Class 1/Maiden Plate (1600m) might have been a surprise to many punters, it wasn’t to her trainers.

“I thought she should have been no more than a $12 chance,” Phil Vigouroux said today, en route home from Wagga races.

“Izfallingdown broke through at Orange over 1300m on March 20 and then ran sixth over the same distance at Canberra on April 8.

“We’ve always felt she would be better as she gets over more ground, and she showed that at Canberra.”

Izfallingdown, ridden by James Innes Jnr, turned in a gutsy performance to clinch her second success, overcoming a wide run in transit.

She would not be denied down the running and edged out $41 chance Cider Bite and Portnoy ($6).

Team Vigouroux got Izfallingdown when she was a three-year-old, but did not push her and, now as a five-year-old, this is her first season of racing.

It’s a case of keeping it in the family with Izfallingdown, a daughter of American-bred London Bridge, who won four of his only nine starts in the UK, France and the USA.

The couple trained her older siblings Cass ‘N’ Black and Azcannyaz (both by Canny Lad), and won six races with the pair.

With more luck, the results would have been even more glowing as the brothers between them notched a remarkable 34 minor placings.

Izfallingdown is the last foal of the Danehill Dancer mare Dezhilla, who died in 2019.

She was bred by Dale Casson, who stayed in the lease to race her with a syndicate which includes Phil and Tara Vigouroux and Tara’s father, former Hawkesbury Race Club chairman Ken Quigley.

Phil Vigouroux feels the well-named Izfallingdown might be even better than her older brothers they trained.

“Her sire was a good stayer (who won the Group 2 Breeders’ Marathon, 2800m at Santa Anita in 2013), and she is a real trier,” he said.

“She has pulled up well from Canberra, and I have nominated her for a Showcase Benchmark 58 Handicap (1750m) at Muswellbrook on Friday.”