An extended run of Stakes placings ended for Durendal at Ascot in Perth on Saturday when the veteran sprinter scored a clever win in the G3 Colonel Reeves Stakes.
Durendal demonstrated all of the well-known durability of the stock of Medaglia d’Oro to wear down the runner up Belter, a son of Darley stallion Denman, to score by a half-length.
While Belter was preferred to make a winning return to racing in the Colonel Reeves, the gelding raced too keenly and had little to offer when the race-hardened Durendal issued his challenge.
Durendal had been almost three years out of the winning-list before his latest success, but had been a model of consistency when previousy in work, running eight successive Stakes placings.
The seven-year-old, who was already one of 117 Stakes winners for Medaglia d’Oro, is one of four Stakes winners out of the Blazing Sword mare Razor Blade and is a half-brother to the G1 winner Flamberge (Exceed And Excel).
