Another star in the making stepped into the spring sprinting ranks depleted by the absence of Black Caviar when Howmuchdoyouloveme sped to an impressive victory in the Group Two Caulfield Stakes.
Howmuchdoyouloveme burst from the gates, cruised through the first 600m and then dashed home to register his fifth win from six starts and convince his trainer Con Karakatsanis he has something special.
Howmuchdoyouloveme winning the Perri Cutten Caulfield Sprint at Caulfield - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
“I don’t know how good he is,” Karakatsanis said.
“He’s untapped.”
Howmuchdoyouloveme ($3.50) justified his favouritism when he scored by two lengths from the Darwin sprinter Canali ($10) with Latin News ($26) a long neck away in third place.
A $5,000 purchase from the Inglis Classic sale, Howmuchdoyouloveme almost doubled his lifetime earning with Saturday’s $132,000 prize and has the chance to double it again at Flemington during Melbourne Cup week.
Karakatsanis plans to run the horse in the Group Two Salinger Stakes (1200m) on Derby day and back-up in the Group One Patinack Farm Classic (1200m) on the final day of the carnival.
“There’s a lot of improvement in him,” he said,.
“We had him where we wanted him today, but there’s plenty to come.”
For winning rider Brenton Avdulla, the win maintained a perfect five-from-five record on Howmuchdoyouloveme.
“He’s a pretty special horse, he has so much raw ability,” Avdulla said.
“I was never really worried, I just thought I’d see how good he is, see if they could catch me.”
