Mixed fortunes for Thorn as star filly suffers setback

25 June 2026

BY ADAM HAMILTON | 

IT has been a mixed week for NSW trainer David Thorn.

The immediate racing future of his brilliant filly Senses (pictured), a half-sister to champions Leap To Fame and Swayzee, is in limbo with an injury setback.

Thorn hopes a bone scan today will give a clearer picture and that the injury is only muscle related.

Thorn’s mood took a big turn for the better when his other stable star, four-year-old Cynical, set tongues wagging at the Menangle trials this morning.

A winner of six of his nine starts, Cynical came from three pegs behind stars Max Delight (lead) and Hollywood Strip (behind leader) and cruised past the pair in a 1min51.3sec mile, capped by a 26.4sec closing split.

Thorn is now desperately chasing a berth in the $300,000 Group 1 Rising Sun at Albion Park on Saturday week.

“He put his hand up with that trial, that’s for sure,” he said. “It was as much the way he won it and who he beat as much as anything else.

“Jye Coney drove him and said he did it easily, did it by himself and just cruised by them.”

Thorn said he had always had a huge opinion of the Bettors Delight gelding, but early issues had limited his impact.

“He’s good now though,” he said. “Even last start, I was a bit disappointed that Mick Stanley’s horse (Sao Paolo Simba) got past him, even though he’s a nice horse. I got him checked out after it as a precaution and found a couple of minor sore spots.

“The signs were good at home and I thought he’d trial well, but that was super today.

“He’d hold his own in a race like the Rising Sun. I know it’s going to be super strong, but I’d love to have a crack at it.”

Beyond Queensland, Cynical is looming as a major player for the world’s richest pacing race, the $1.5 million TAB Eureka at Menangle on November 21.

Back to Senses, and Thorn concedes regardless of the bone scan result, hopes of contesting the $150,000 Group 1 Queensland Oaks on July 18 look dashed.

“Even if it’s minor, I’d say we’d miss the Oaks,” he said. “Best case scenario and it’s a muscle strain and she could be back for the NSW Breeders Challenge.

“Otherwise, we’ve been patient so far and the owners are keen to race her, so we’ll give her a good break and look at the four-year-old races.

“On her breeding and what we’ve seen from her, I’m sure she’ll come back better again after another good spell.”

Senses has raced just eight times for five wins and three seconds.

After a terrific second to standout filly Arrhythmia in the Group 1 NSW Oaks on May 2, Senses won her next two starts at Menangle in preparation for the Queensland Oaks.