Outgoing Darley trainer Peter Snowden sent Sarajevo out for the first and last time with the desired result when the colt scored an impressive win at Randwick.
The race plan was cancelled when he was shuffled back early but the two-year-old lived up to his $2.10 favouritism and his trainer’s opinion when he unleashed a powerful sprint in the straight.
He worked to the line 1-1/4 lengths ahead of Burning Passion ($7) in the 1100m race for colts and geldings.
“He is a very talented horse,” Snowden said.
“I thought he would be up on the speed but I couldn’t find him in the first 200 metres.
“You have to be above average to do what he did.”
Josh Parr picked up the ride with Darley rider Kerrin McEvoy off with the flu.
“He got stood on his head early,” Parr said.
“Then he got squeezed between horses but he adapted to it really well and travelled kindly.
“He is a very classy horse.”
Snowden leaves the Darley operation after the Hawkesbury meeting on Saturday week to become a public trainer in partnership with his son Paul.
Sail gave him his second win on the Easter Monday program with Christian Reith the beneficiary of McEvoy’s absence.
The mare came late to beat Strace by half a neck over 1400 metres.
“She only wins occasionally so it was nice to see,” Snowden said.
The trainer will saddle up his final Group One runners for Sheikh Mohammed’s operation at Randwick on Saturday with Kumaon scheduled to take his place in the Champagne Stakes (1600m) and three-year-old Sidestep to take on older horses in the All Aged Stakes.
Kumaon finished midfield in the Sires’ Produce Stakes on April 12 on a heavy track while Sidestep is backing up seven days after his win in the Royal Sovereign Stakes.
Runner-up in the 2013 Golden Slipper, Sidestep had a forgettable spring but has returned to form this time around with two wins and a second from three autumn starts.
