Racing
Moonee Valley Briefs
A quick look at some of the highlights from Moonee Valley on Saturday.
Twin Perfection notches hat-trick
Twin Perfection looks a short-course horse of some promise, winning his third race in a row over 1000m and his first at Saturday metro level, taking out the James Miller Benchmark 70 (1000m).
The Phillip Stokes trained five-year-old has really hit his straps of late, backed into the $2.05 favourite to sit just behind the speed and pounce on the turn, scoring by 2.5 lengths to second favourite Hissy Fit ($3.80)
Stokes is keen to stay at 1000m or even below, with the Moonee Valley 55 second challenge series an option, which kicks off on the 29th of September.
"We'll see where he sits in the ratings but definitely the 1000m, we'll keep him at that and he'll keep winning races", Stokes said.
Crackerjack Prince surprises stable
Archie Alexander was adamant Crackerjack Prince($12) needed some give in the ground to show his best but was quickly reminded that horses often refuse to be put in a box, posting the biggest win of his career on a Good 3 at Moonee Valley.
The sparingly raced six-year-old won his fifth race from 19 starts, scoring emphatically in the Maureen Salter Handicap (1600m) at Benchmark 70 level.
"We'd been to Sandown quite a lot but never won so we started thinking well maybe let's try something new… we were adamant we wanted a bit of give in the ground and we've come on a firm 3 and he's absolutely flown," Alexander said.
Maximillius denies Recommendation in thrilling finish
Class came to the fore in Race 5 at Moonee Valley, with stakes winner and Group 3 placed Maximillius ($6) able to lead all of the way in the Gwenda Fitzgerald Handicap (1200m), denying Group 3 winner Recommendation ($3F)
Mick Price, who trains in partnership with Michael Kent Jr, was typically measured in his assessment of the win.
"It's not the way that horse should go in the future, when they go like that on D Oliver you know they're pulling fairly hard… I'm thinking that horse took off a bit from the barriers so I'm thinking we'll just keep him to 1200 for the meantime," Price said.
Damien Oliver was also surprised to find himself in front but made the most of the opportunity.
"He began well, the horse was a bit on the fresh side, I didn't really expect to lead. Mick thinks I'm not a front-running jockey but I can ride them anywhere," Oliver said.
Last seen falling in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m), Oliver praised the training performance to have Maximillius back winning as a four-year-old.
"The horse has taken no ill effects from his bad fall in the Guineas and seems to have come back well…He was probably just treading water in his three-year-old year, although he ran some good races… he's a big strong horse who's in for a good prep based on that return today," Oliver said.
Superstock gives Kavanagh's first ever metro double
M & L Kavanagh brought two strong winning chances to Moonee Valley, with Lakota Fire ($3.80F) winning the opener before Superstock ($4F) gave the father-son duo their first ever metro double, taking out the Ladbrokes Racing Club Challenger Handicap (2040m).
Craig Williams gave Superstock every chance after some mixed luck of late, sitting on the fence behind the leaders before peeling out in the straight to score by half a length over Havisham ($41), with a further length back to Duke Of Hastings ($31).
Levi Kavanagh was pleased to see a change of luck for a stayer they initially thought might be a Group 1 South Australian Derby (2500m) contender.
"He's been relatively consistent. It all started off with the Adelaide Derby in mind… he burnt himself in the leadup so we decided to give him a bit of a break and bring him back and put the focus on that mile sort of trip," Kavanagh said.
"He's still quite lowly rated so I think there's opportunities for him to kick on."
Pereille breaks duck in the wet
The rain arrived mid card at Moonee Valley and Pereille ($2.10F) braved the gloomy conditions best to notch up his second career win in the Ladbroke It! Handicap (1200m).
He was one of the runs of the day against the pattern two weeks ago but made amends under a patient Damian Lane ride, getting the job done convincingly after plenty of near misses when hard in the market.
Trainer James Cummings was happy to see the horse in the winner's circle given his record prior read 1 win, 8 placings from 9 starts.
"He's been very consistently running well but this preparation since being gelded he's gone to another level," Cummings said.
"He was rocketing home against the bias here last time a fortnight ago and on the quick turnaround, he's backed that up with a pretty facile win this evening."
Check out our FREE Interactive Speed Maps for meetings in nine countries each and every day.