The weekend began on Friday night at Cranbourne as Tristano looked home and hosed in the 1600m BM78, before Australian debutant Mister Belvedere (GB) motored home to pip him on the line.
With little pace in the race, Damien Oliver elected to ride Tristano forward where they dictated the pace and looked the winners at the 200m mark when Mister Belvedere began to lay in up the straight. Tristano fought on well, however couldn’t match the turn of foot required to hold first place as the first place getter found his feet.
As Tristano’s second-up run this preparation, Matt Cumani was extremely pleased with the effort given last start he was difficult to keep relaxed and working politely on the bridle throughout the race. Up on the pace this time around and Tristano settled beautifully, being able to make his early running. We are very much looking forward to what the rest of his preparation holds as he steps up in distance next start.
Below: Tristano being swamped late to run second at Cranbourne.
In Queensland on Saturday, Tom Melbourne continued his bridesmaid trend, running second place in the Group 3 Lord Mayor’s Cup to Order Again, with the ever consistent Le Juge maintaining his fine form and running a credible third place.
Under the weight for age conditions, Tom jumped well and jockey Blake Shinn had hoped to get some cover early, however with no one willing to take up the lead and rather than wrestling with the horse to get back, Blake opted to roll along. This served Tom well, giving him the opportunity to relax in running. However, Order Again just proved too strong coming over the top of Tom in the final 200m taking out the race by three-quarters of a length.
Le Juge settled much further back in the field after jockey Robbie Fradd had made the decision to go to the rear of the field in order to avoid getting caught wide in running. Coming into the 600m mark he was a good seven to eight lengths from the leader and stablemate Tom Melbourne, but was able to weave his way through coming up the straight. Chris felt that it was a day of racing where it was very hard to make up ground, so in making such a strong running, he finished off impressively to nab third on the line.
Le Juge will now have a well-earned break after what has been an incredible campaign. He has relished in the Queensland sunshine and generated new-found confidence in Australia. Next preparation we hope to see him taking on some Sydney and Melbourne riches! Tom Melbourne will look for another start in the coming weeks, possibly remaining in Queensland.
