Canberra trainer Matthew Dale’s decision to bring Prometheus to Melbourne has been rewarded, with the gelding racing to a convincing win in the Grand Mile Final at Flemington.
Formerly trained by Peter and Paul Snowden, Prometheus was having his third start for Dale in Saturday’s $150,000 race over 1600m after finishing a close fifth at Rosehill and then second-last at the same Sydney track in his most recent outing on soft ground.
Prometheus, who firmed from $20 to $17, enjoyed a nice run just off the lead and chimed in strongly in the straight before racing clear to win by three lengths.
Mr Reckless was second with another half-head to Remember The Name third.
“He ran really well for me first-up and wasn’t quite ready that day so I knew there would be good improvement,” Dale said.
“We were a bit disappointed on face value last start but I went right back through all his replays and worked out he doesn’t like getting cluttered up and he doesn’t love a wet track.
“So we earmarked this race. He got on top of the ground, a wide gate was beautiful and he got a great ride from Dwayne Dunn.
“He was a lot fitter today and we were confident coming into the race that he would run super well.
“I’ve only had him three runs and when I went back through his form, his best form would win this race. We had every reason to believe he would bounce back to his best today, so it’s a big thrill.”
