Hay List had nothing more to give – except a major fright for his jockey and odds-on punters – before claiming the $175,000 Challenge Stakes at Warwick Farm on Sunday.
Australia’s second-best sprinter behind Black Caviar was stretched to the limit in the Group Two sprint, leaving jockey Glyn Schofield to say: “He was flat-out. There was nothing left.”
In the end, Hay List ($1.65) almost had to run a 1000m course record to beat Keen Commander by a long head after they went stride for stride for the length of the straight.
The three-year-old filly Solar Charged was no match for her older rivals in finishing third.
“Lucky for my horse Keen Commander wasn’t able to cross,” Schofield said.
“If he had been able to do that I would have been in a bit of trouble and he may have been beaten today.”
Hay List knew he had been in a race and was blowing heavily in the parade yard, prompting trainer John McNair to declare the five-year-old would need every day until his return clash with Black Caviar to improve his level of fitness.
“He is such a gross horse,” McNair said. “But at least it gives me a bit of time to work on a few niggles he’s had.
“I might even give him a jumpout. Looking at him he’s needed this race today the way he has pulled up and he has to go to another level in the T J Smith.”
Hay List was slow to begin from his inside gate but he was able to use his natural speed to muster towards the lead and hold Keen Commander for the rails position.
Nevertheless, McNair says he might have to give the sprinter some barrier practice in the countdown to renewing acquaintances with Black Caviar.
“He’s got residual thoughts of when he slipped in the barrier in the Lightning Stakes,” the trainer said.
“Horses are smart, you know. They remember things.”
A shoulder problem as a result of that barrier mishap forced McNair to abort another Melbourne return to contest the Newmarket Handicap after Hay List ran second to Black Caviar in the Lightning.
The TJ Smith, a weight-for-age contest over 1200 metres at Randwick on April 9, promises to be one of the races of the Sydney autumn carnival with Black Caviar set to make her Sydney debut in the $1 million feature.
AAP TURF
