Resilient gelding Sandpaper has notched his second black type win for trainer Bjorn Baker and syndicator Darby Racing, defying all challengers to lead throughout in the Listed Carrington Stakes at Randwick.
Rated beautifully by Nash Rawiller, Sandpaper was heavily backed to start a $2.70 favourite and held on by a long neck over stablemate Thunderlips ($14) with Provincial-Midway Championships winner Matcha Latte ($6.50) an encouraging third.
The winner was returning from a midfield effort in The Buffering (1400m) at Eagle Farm and Baker’s racing manager, Luke Hilton, said they had taken positives from that effort.
“He was really tough in Brisbane. He never got any peace. They were three-wide attacking him the whole way and I thought he held his own and boxed on really well,” Hilton said.
“Bjorn just gave him that bit of extra time between runs when he came back, and he looked fantastic in the yard.
“His work during the week was super and Nash gets on with him well.”
Sandpaper capped a successful day for Rawiller, delivering him a treble following earlier victories aboard Promitto for David Atkins and Kingdom Undersiege for Matthew Dunn.
The experienced hoop admitted to some concerns when the challengers came at Sandpaper in the straight but said the horse dug deep and was deceptively difficult to run down.
“He’s a tough bugger,” Rawiller said.
“The way they all got to him at the top of the rise, I thought geez, I’ve been a bit pretty here.
“But I think they get tired chasing him and when he gave that kick, he is just so tough and honest.
“The stablemate probably had him there at the hundred and I think they had a little chat together and he said, ‘mate, you’re not getting past me’. It was a good effort.”
Sandpaper has been in work since the spring, but Hilton says they are keen to continue his campaign while he is racing so well.
It was the six-year-old’s second stakes win since joining the stable a year ago, adding to his Group 3 success in the Newcastle Stakes (1400m) in March.
