Peter Snowden trained Pinwheel has taken out today’s feature race at Warwick Farm ahead of the very gallant Ilovethiscity and the well backed rough Startsmeup in third position.
The Warwick Stakes didn’t pan out how Peter Snowden expected during the run but honest gelding Pinwheel still found a way to join his famous sire as a winner of the weight-for-age feature.
Pinwheel winning the 2011 Warwick Stakes - Photo by Steve Hart
Pinwheel ($2.70 fav) took a fitness edge into Saturday’s Group Two event at Warwick Farm and despite settling further back than expected, the son of Lonhro powered home 1-3/4 lengths ahead of Ilovethiscity ($7) with a nose to Startsmeup ($14) in third place.
Champion Lonhro won two Warwick Stakes in 2001 and 2003 and while Pinwheel will never match the deeds of his father, Snowden was full of praise for the consistent sprinter who notched the biggest win of his career.
“What a pleasure to have in the stable,” Snowden said.
“He’s a really, really nice horse and very genuine.
“I must say watching the race though it wasn’t the script we had written beforehand.
“We spoke about the race for three days and thought with the (fitness) edge we had on the others we would take advantage of it. When he only had four behind him at the 700-metre mark I thought, `What’s gone wrong here’.”
Having his first attempt at 1400m, Pinwheel got back to worse than midfield during the run before Kerrin McEvoy got onto the back of Ilovethiscity rounding the home corner.
McEvoy, who earlier teamed with Snowden to win the Listed Show County Quality with Skytrain, produced Pinwheel on the outside and the gelding ran the trip right out in the testing conditions to score his 10th win from 24 starts.
“We’ve always kept him at short trips over 1100 and 1200 metres but when you can get out over 1400, 1500 and a mile (1600m) it just opens up the door for a few more options for him,” Snowden said.
Snowden anticipated Pinwheel being up near the lead but after watching his charge handle the Warwick Stakes he nominated the Group Two Chelmsford Stakes (1600m) as a likely next option.
“He’s probably a no-frills horse but probably deserves more credit than he gets,” the delighted trainer said.
Randwick Guineas winner Ilovethiscity signalled he was on target for his spring objectives with a pleasing return.
The four-year-old was flushed out on the corner but wasn’t able to show his customary dash on the heavy track.
“He’s never won first-up so I was pretty happy with that under the trying conditions,” trainer Grahame Begg said.
“He was pretty exposed at the top of the straight and he stuck it out well.”
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