For the second year in a row the Group Two Caulfield Sprint has finished in a dead-heat.
But this year’s edition race also had a protest, only to be dismissed.
Eclaire Choice, Lumosty
Dwayne Dunn, rider of the fast-finishing Lumosty, fired in a protest claiming interference from co-winner Eclair Choice.
The objection was dismissed with stewards saying the trouble Dunn found himself in couldn’t be attributed to the actions of Dom Tourneur on Eclair Choice.
Lumosty ($4.80) closed strongly on the outside after Eclair Choice ($21) had sprinted to the front.
The leader Ball Of Muscle finished 1-1/4 lengths away third.
Last year Bel Sprinter and Miracles Of Life dead-heated.
“If he (Dunn) gets out when he wanted to get out, I think she wins outright,” Lumosty’s trainer Robert Smerdon said.
Smerdon thought the mare had just missed while Eclair Choice’s jockey Dom Tourneur wasn’t sure whether he had held on.
Trainer Phillip Stokes believes taking the blinkers off Eclair Choice was the key.
“Today with the blinkers off he showed a turn of foot,” Stokes said.
Smerdon says Lumosty has improvement to come heading into a clash with some of the country’s best sprinters.
“We hadn’t tightened her down at all and we were looking at the Darley Classic, which is obviously a pretty high aim to have with her,” Smerdon said.
“But she’s a Group One placegetter and a Group Two winner so we need to get a Group One on her CV.”
