The addition of blinkers sparked two-year-old Mishani Di Caprio to upset an old fashioned plunge on rival The Wildman at Doomben on Saturday.
The Wildman, who had beaten Mishani Di Caprio by 5 1/2 lengths only a week ago, was backed from $1.80 into $1.55 in the final three minutes of betting.
However, Mishani Dicaprio ($14) led all of the way to win the Brisbane Marriott Hcp (1050m) by 1 1/4 lengths to Cookie’s Carioca ($9) with a 1/2 length to The Wildman.
Mishani Di Caprio’s trainer Les Ross said the win had come a week too late for the stable as they had heavily backed the two-year-old last week.
“We decided to put blinkers on Mishani Di Caprio and claim 3kgs with apprentice James Orman, really in desperation.”
“The blinkers obviously did the trick as I told James to ride him aggressively out of the barriers and see how we went.”
“We bet up on him last week and did our money. Unfortunately, we didn’t back up this week,” Ross said.
Mishani Di Caprio will now probably be spelled and brought back next year as he doesn’t figure in Magic Millions calculations.
Apprentice Luke Tarrant said The Wildman had been under pressure a long way out and had not sprinted in the straight.
Rejuvenated gelding Darci Be Good will probably be kept at 1600m after he made it back-to-back wins in the Garrards Horse and Hound Open (1600m).
Trainer Andrew Williamson was forced to drop Darci Be Good back in distance because of a lack of staying races in Brisbane.
“He won at 2020m and then we planned to run him at 2200m but the race was scrapped. It could have been a blessing in disguise because we could freshen him up,” Williamson said.
“Darci Be Good has a good record at a mile and the Recognition Stakes over that trip on November 29 could be his mission now.”
