Queensland’s top juvenile Sizzling had to produce something special to win Saturday’s Group One TJ Smith at Eagle Farm.
The Kelso Wood-trained colt, perfectly ridden by Chris Munce, looked to be in trouble halfway down the straight but pulled out all stops to reel in the Gai Waterhouse-trained Kabayan to score a narrow but impressive victory.
Academus, trained by Peter Snowden, was third.
It was Sizzling’s, a son of Snitzel, fifth win from eight starts which have also yielded two placings for prizemoney approaching $800,000.
Munce gave the two-year-old time to find his feet early in the 1600-metre feature and gradually improved his position to be ready to challenge at the top of the straight.
Nash Rawiller on Kabayan cut the corner and dashed to the lead in the run home but Sizzling overpowered him in the final stages.