Western Australian racing has served up yet another absolutely thrilling feature race finish.
The result at Belmont on Saturday was so close on the line that the two main fancies in the Listed Raconteur Stakes … the $1.65 favourite Hot And High and the $3.50 second favourite Vatican Storm … could not be separated by the naked eye and, even with the photograph, it took the judge a longer time than usual to put up the winning number.
That call eventually came in favour of the Stefan Vahala trained Vatican Storm, who certainly was worthy of the win which saw him claim his third victory from his last four starts with Clint Johnston-Porter partnering the son of Playing God on all of those occasions.
For the connections of the Hot And High, who was literally just inches away from landing the win, the result brought the double disappointment of not only just falling short of adding another Listed race win to the filly’s resume, but also finally surrendering Hot And High’s previous proud, unbeaten record with the daughter of Too Darn Hot having racked up five wins from her first five starts.
The two favourites … Hot And High and Vatican Storm were the only two runners quoted at odds under $12 … were prominent throughout as Hot And High tracked the early speed and Vatican Storm tracked Hot And High, following the favourite all the way to the approach to the home turn, before moving up to be almost alongside Hot And High on straightening.
It was still a fairly bunched field at the top of the home straight, but by the 200m mark it had come down to a race in two as Hot And High, with Lucy Fiore working hard in the saddle, and Vatican Storm, fired up by an equally determined ride by Johnston-Porter, joined issue in a riveting stride for stride battle over the final 180m.
“There was nothing in it … nearly a dead-heat. They’ve gone to it with barely daylight between them. It’s an epic finish. What about that for racing theatre,” said the commentator as these two horses crossed the line seemingly locked together.
Nobody could call the result with any confidence … and it was left to the judge to pour over the photograph and make that important decision.
“I was sort of saying to the boys that we haven’t won a photo-finish in four years,” said trainer Stefan Vahala talking to Racing WA post-race. “so, we were a bit worried, but, no, it was awesome.
“Without going overboard … he has got Group 1 ability. I’m not saying he will win a Group 1, but he is that sort of level of horse. You get these top jockeys like Clint (Johnston-Porter) and they just find a way to get the right run in the race. He just produced him beautifully.”
Johnston-Porter also had an anxious wait before the result to become official.
“Probably 50m out I was pretty confident I was going to hold her off, but coming to the line it was actually starting to kick back at me a little bit and it made it very interesting. I sort of didn’t really know (who won),” said Johnston-Porter.
“The race panned out better than I thought it would. I thought she (Hot And High) would just lead and run right away from me, but she ended up right in front of me in the running and I just had a perfect run into it.
“I let him track into it a little bit earlier than I normally would, so I didn’t have too much ground to make on her.”
The Belmont Guineas and the step up from 1400m to 1600m now beckons for Vatican Storm. Johnston-Porter is confident the mile trip will be well in Vatican Storm’s reach.
“Definitely. He is a nice horse and every time I’ve ridden him he has just got a little bit more professional … even though he is still floating around and stopping down the back looking around at the cranes and stuff. He is a curious character, but he has got lots of potential,” offered Johnston-Porter.
For the record Lanfranco ($31) and Westbound ($12) finished third and fourth respectively in what was also a very competitive go for the minor placings in which only 0.12 lengths separated the third to fifth placed runners.
