A breakthrough stakes win by Atomic Force in the Maurice McCarten Stakes at Rosehill brought an end to the first day of the Sydney carnival.
Although rain fell through most of the afternoon, a crowd of 10,516 braved the conditions for Coolmore Classic day, the traditional ladies day.
Trained by Darren Smith at Newcastle, Atomic Force ($12) ran past Winter King ($3.80 fav) to win the Listed 1100m sprint by 1-3/4 lengths.
Smith is still on crutches after breaking his leg several months ago and did not make the trip to Sydney.
Fiona Watt from Dynamic Syndications said the owners would savour the win and then talk about where to go next with Atomic Force.
“We’ve got owners from Queensland, Perth and Victoria so we’ll talk about it,” Watt said.
Tromso was the disappointment of the race in more ways than one.
He was the last chance on the day for Chris Waller to snare a winner and keep his remarkable training feat intact.
He went into the meeting having trained at least one winner at the previous 24 Saturday fixtures at Rosehill.
But it was not to be and Waller will start all over again next week with the focus on the three-year-olds in the Rosehill Guineas.
AAP TURF
