Concluding the weekend with a win and various placings for the OTI cohort, our five runners made sure they compared notes to accomplish the feat of 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th over Saturday and Sunday.
San Remo, a horse that struggled to find his form at the shorter distances upon his arrival in Australia, is relishing the extended trip accomplishing his first win Down Under – taking out the 3000m BM70 at Cranbourne in fine style. A lovely uncontested ride by Jordan Childs, San Remo took a front-running position leading from start to finish. Entering the straight with a clear advantage, he ran away from the field, powering home to finish seven lengths ahead of Ventura Highway working hard to catch him in second place.
Our second place runner was none other than Group 1 winner Aloisia, making a significant comeback in New South Wales in the Group 2 Villiers Stakes. Having drawn a wide barrier, jockey Tim Clark had no option but to drop back to the tail of the field to avoid spending the trip running four wide with no cover. From the 300m mark she looked a lost cause as the field gained momentum, but she rose to the challenge and stormed home late, going down by less than a neck to the favourite Sky Boy in what was a thrilling finish.
Third place this weekend was awarded to the newly Matthew Smith trained Dusk Falls who enjoyed his first start in Hawkesbury, New South Wales, running on nicely over the 2000m Class 2 under apprentice jockey Rebeka Prest. Now looking to step up in distance, we hope to see a more competitive effort as he makes his way to his ideal 2500m – 3000m trip.
Following the flow of placings; fourth and fifth place went to racing associates Scherzoso and Romancer respectively in the BM84 1700m at Flemington on Saturday. Good efforts from both horses, they lead the second half of the field over the line with the three front-runners taking control and finishing strongly.
