Unheralded Doomben trainer Jeffrey Caught will roll the dice with talented sprinter Falino and chase a back door entry into the $1 million Stradbroke Handicap after his game win at Doomben.
Falino produced a career-best performance to score a determined win Saturday’s $125,000 Fred Best Classic (1350m) and Caught will now bank on the QTC Cup on June 4 as a springboard into the Stradbroke the following week.
Falino ($9.50) was given all the favours in the run by Tim Clark and the Fusaichi Pegasus gelding held off a determined bid by Spirit Of Boom ($10) to score a half-head win.
Sydney three-year-old Skilled ($5 fav) turned in an eye-catching performance to finish three-quarters of a length third after being posted wide throughout.
Caught said he went into the race full of confidence after Falino’s unlucky last start fourth at the Gold Coast and the horse justified his opinion with a tenacious win.
“He’s a nice horse and he’s slowly improved as he’s gone along. There’s a bit more improvement in front of him too,” Caught said.
“He’ll go into the QTC Cup now and it’s always been my plan to have a crack at the Stradbroke with him.
“Realistically, if he can’t win the QTC Cup he can’t win the Stradbroke.”
Spirit Of Boom looked set for victory when his rider Hugh Bowman angled him into the clear at the 200m mark but he couldn’t get past Falino after he got on level terms.
Bowman said he thought Spirit Of Boom was home when he loomed up but couldn’t explain why he couldn’t get past the winner.
“It was a good run but he got all the breaks too,” Bowman said.
“My gut feeling is he’d better off in a fast run 1200 metres.
“I thought I had the race under lock and key when he got into the clear though.”
Skilled’s rider Corey Brown blamed the horse’s defeat on his outside barrier.
“His run was super. He had the worst barrier and no luck at all,” he said.
AAP TURF
