APPEARED (IR) MAKES A WINNING AUSTRALIAN DEBUT

1 hour ago
2 min read

Darby Racing 14.8.2026

There was plenty of excitement surrounding Appeared heading into his Australian debut at Newcastle yesterday, and the exciting import certainly delivered.

The beautifully bred son of Justify, out of Living The Life, arrived in Australia with just three Irish starts to his name, culminating in an impressive 2400m maiden victory at the Curragh.

Sourced privately in Ireland by Hubie de Burgh of de Burgh Equine, Appeared was identified as a horse with the profile, pedigree and untapped potential to develop into a high-class Australian stayer.

There is also a great story behind his ownership. Appeared was bred by Hank Nothhaft, who has remained part of the journey and came into the ownership of the horse here in Australia. It is fantastic to have Hank involved and hopefully there are some much bigger days ahead for him and the entire ownership group.

Yesterday we got our first real glimpse of what Appeared might be capable of.

Having his first start in Australia for trainer Bjorn Baker, Appeared stepped out over 1880m at Newcastle with Dylan Gibbons in the saddle.

Settling beautifully in fourth position, Dylan gave him every opportunity before presenting him in the straight. Appeared showed an excellent turn of foot for a staying horse, knuckling down strongly to reel in the leader and score in impressive fashion.

What made the performance particularly exciting was that 1880m is well short of where we believe his best will ultimately be. His previous victory came over 2400m in Ireland, yet he was still able to sprint strongly when required, with the race producing a sharp 33.87 final 600m.

He is now a winner of two of only four career starts, and there looks to be an enormous amount of upside still to come.

Appeared is exactly the type of horse we love bringing to Australia — lightly raced, beautifully bred, proven over ground and still with plenty of improvement ahead of him.

A huge thank you to Hubie de Burgh and the team at de Burgh Equine for sourcing another exciting international prospect for Darby Racing, and congratulations to Bjorn Baker and his team for producing him in terrific order for his Australian debut.

A great ride from Dylan Gibbons, who has known the horse through his trials and gave him a lovely introduction to Australian racing.

Most importantly, congratulations to our fantastic group of owners, including Hank Nothhaft, who bred Appeared and has now joined us for the Australian chapter of his career.

The journey with these imported stayers is all about finding horses capable of progressing through the grades and hopefully towards some of Australia's better staying races.

Appeared looks to have huge ability, and after what we saw at Newcastle, we can't wait to see where he can get to.

🇮🇪 Ireland to Australia — one start, one win. The future looks very exciting.