A trip to Scone beckons for Under The Louvre after he scored his first win for trainer Robert Smerdon at Caulfield.
Under The Louvre was part of a group of horses to join Smerdon after his original trainer Tony Vasil decided to take a break from racing to deal with personal issues.
The three-year-old won a trial at Cranbourne before booking a shot at the $400,000 Inglis 3YO Guineas, restricted to Inglis sale graduates on May 17, with a comfortable win.
Under the Louvre winning the Charter Keck Cramer Handicap at Caulfield ridden by Jack Hill and trained by Robert Smerdon - (photo by Steven Dowden/Race Horse Photos Australia)
Jack Hill let Under The Louvre ($6) settle second last before the Excellent Art three-year-old powered home over the top of Hard Stride ($6) to score by 1-3/4 lengths.
Smerdon said he initially wanted to take Under The Louvre to Adelaide for a Group Two race but switched his plans to take in the Inglis 3YO Guineas.
“We thought we’d stay home and run here and if he runs well, he’ll go to Scone,” Smerdon said.
Smerdon said Hill had developed an understanding of Under The Louvre’s habits in his time working with the horse, which proved crucial at trackwork on Tuesday morning.
Under The Louvre failed to impress Smerdon with his work but Hill remained confident the emerging galloper could post his fifth win from eight starts.
“His work on Tuesday morning was pretty plain but Jack said `don’t worry about him’,” Smerdon said.
“He’s casual but he’s there on raceday.”
The Mick Kent-trained Consorting was backed from $4.40 to start $3.70 favourite before working home steadily for third.
