The ultra-consistent Enchanted Heart, who came into his first up assignment today with three wins and two runner-up finishes from his previous five starts, brushed aside any remaining cobwebs from her two-month break from action with a sparkling last stride victory in Vinery Stud Handicap over 1100m.
In doing so, Enchanted Heart upstaged the John O’Shea trained Lost In Running, the horse that was the main focus of attention, and the short-priced main fancy, in the final race on the card as he went out to try and defend his unbeaten record and to try and make it five straight wins.
Lost In Running ran a near perfect race. James McDonald positioned him on the back of the second favourite Mister Mosaic, who at $4.20 (Ladbrokes) was the only other runner quote in single figures, and both of these runners were ready to make their move early in the home straight.
Lost In Running took a number of strides to change gears but then he started to lengthen his stride and it soon became clear he was going to go very close to being able to put up the ‘mission accomplished’ sign.
But a very real danger lay directly behind him.
Just as Lost In Running had tracked Mister Mosaic, the Kris Lees trained Enchanted Heart had been following Lost In Running and Jason Collett had the Shamus Award mare charging late, on Lost In Running’s outside, with what was to prove to be a winning, finishing effort which saw Enchanted Heart grab the seventh win of his career at the expense of Lost In Running in the shadow of the post.
“I was really happy with the ride,” said Cameren Swan, spokesman for the Kris Lees stable. “The instructions were to get back a little bit.
“We didn’t want her to be wide from the bad gate, but she began really well and Jason (Collett) summed it up and ended up on the back of the favourite in that stalking position, and he was good enough to get the job done.”
