White wonder Utzon to debut

DAVID Eustace thought someone was taking the mickey out of him when he was told a white horse was joining his stable.

The Englishman, who hails from a racing background, said he’d never heard of such a thing in his home country, nor while he had been in Australia.

“I genuinely didn’t think they existed,” he said.

Now Eustace in his partnership with Ciaron Maher trains not just one but two extremely rare white horses.

The first is the younger of the pair which is two-year-old filly Utzon, making her debut in the opening race at Caulfield today in the Inglis Debutant Stakes (1000m) and is $5.50 equal favourite with the TAB.

The other horse is Utzon’s older half-brother three-yearold Grand Bernini who is in work at Maher’s Pakenham stables.

The pair are out of the white mare The Opera House, a three-quarter sister to Might And Power.

Utzon won a trial at Cranbourne on Monday and Maher said she had done everything right to send her to the races.

“She came through her jump-out in good style and then her trial now it’s off to the races. She’s got a tough draw but she’s a sharp filly,” he said.

The training partners said training a white horse had its challenges.

“You’ve got to put zinc on her lips all the time,” Eustace said.