Debut triumph for Blue Door in hard-fought Kindergarten Stakes

The naming of Blue Door carries an intriguing backstory, as the promising newcomer dominated the Group 3 $250,000 Kindergarten Stakes (1100m) at Royal Randwick this Saturday.

Sired by Stay Inside from the mare Notting Hill, Blue Door's name stems from an anecdote disclosed by her owner John Singleton.

"My daughter, Jess, was living at Notting Hill in London and I went to visit here last year,'' Singleton told Racing And Sports.

"I noticed all the doors in her street were painted blue and when Jess went out, I thought why not paint her door red.

"But when Jess came home, she wasn't happy and suspected it was me. So, I had to have the door painted blue again.''

Ridden at $4.40, Blue Door, owned in conjunction with Singleton's daughter, edged out the ill-fated closer The Next Episode ($2.80 favourite) by a half neck, with Under Focus ($5.50) one length behind in third place.

Trainer Bjorn Baker achieved a remarkable feat by readying Blue Door with merely one 900m barrier trial before her bold Group 3 debut assault.

"We don't often ask a two-year-old to go straight into a stakes race on debut but she's very good,'' Baker said of Blue Door.

"They don't often trial like that, as the punters' will know, and I like them to me there and have a raceday test, we make no secret of that, but the way she did it and the time she ran, she looked to have plenty left.

"She's shown exceptional ability since we've had her. She was a great trial winner and great to win for Singo and the team.

"I'm not sure if he'll shout the bar today, but I'm going to make the most of it."

Jockey Rachel King heaped praise on the filly, positioned externally to the frontrunner, assuming control in the final stages while fending off The Next Episode's surge from the rear following a sluggish jump.

"I was a little wary off only one trial, I know she was very impressive in her trial, but we would always like them to have two,'' King said."But her gallop on Tuesday was super so I knew she'd taken plenty of benefit from that trial,

"She tired late the last 50m, but she's got a great attitude, she's a real race horse, she wants to win. She's very professional, she's got that will to win and wants to find the line.''

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