One of the most improved horses in training, Ranges has continued Team Snowden’s affinity with the Ramornie Handicap to give the stable it’s fifth win in the feature Grafton sprint.
Taking eight starts to break his maiden, the five-year-old only won his first Saturday metropolitan grade race in November before raising the bar again this preparation to become a dual stakes winner.
His success continues Peter and Paul Snowden’s outstanding Ramornie Handicap (1200m) record, Peter Snowden having claimed the race with Pinwheel (2010) and Jerezana (2011) for Darley, while Calanda (2017 ) and Signore Fox (2020) have captured the showpiece under the Team Snowden banner.
Winning jockey Tom Sherry said Ranges had been well placed by the stable and scored with something in hand.
“They’ve won a couple of these races, so they know the sort of horse it takes to win them,” Sherry told Sky Racing.
“He was coasting a little bit when he was forced to the front but when he heard a wall of them coming on his outside he really knuckled down.”
Sherry positioned Ranges ($6.50) trailing the leader before surging to the front in the straight and holding his advantage to beat topweight Gem Song ($9) by three-quarters of a length with Fender ($7) closing strongly for third.
Matthew McCudden, representing the Snowden stable, said Ranges was in career-best form and he could see no reason the horse couldn’t continue on his trajectory.
“These races are made for him and who knows where he will end up because we keep lifting the bar and he keeps getting it done,” McCudden said.
“He is just the perfect racehorse. You see in his temperament pre-race that nothing bothers him, he goes out, he makes his own luck, he just does everything right.
“He’s an old marvel.”
Ranges was the stable’s only Ramornie runner after King Of Sparta was scratched on Wednesday morning due to the wet track.
