IT might have been only four-horse race at Sandown Lakeside on Wednesday but it turned into the highlight of the eight-race metropolitan card.
The Evergreen Turf Handicap over 2100m quickly turned into just a two-horse challenge, with Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey taking out the $50,000 race.
Coffey’s mount Tommy was the even-money favourite, marginally ahead of Speranzoso, and as soon as they jumped it was obvious Royal Rift and Bell’s Bighouse weren’t in the same class.
Royal Rift finished six lengths adrift with Bell’s Bighouse an astonishing 35 lengths further back.
But all the action was in the straight as Tommy and Speranzoso slugged it out for the last 300m of the race, with Coffey and the Calvin McEvoy-trained five-year-old Kiwi gelding just doing enough to win by a long neck.
It was the fourth win in the horse’s nine-start career.
The race commentator said it might have been a “disappointing field of four” after three scratchings, but declared the two horses had turned it into a real race.
“This was a little bit of an easier assignment after his BM80 run at Flemington on Oaks Day during the Spring Carnival and he enjoys this distance range of 2000m after winning in a BM64 at Ballarat before that,” he said.
McEvoy described the race as “very tactically run” and thought at the turn the win was in the bag – until Speranzoso refused to lie down “in the ding-dong duel” down the straight.
With Damian Lane dictating the race on Speranzoso from the front, Coffey made the decision not to wait until they were in the straight to start applying some pressure to the leader, which meant they repeatedly bumped each other in the showdown to the line.
Coffey has been in Tommy’s saddle for its past four starts, giving him two wins.
“We only got there with great difficulty, and it took a lot and Damian’s horse was really strong and tough at the 2100m,” he said.
“I always thought I was on the best horse in the race but I had to be mindful out there of the condition, such as the wind, and carrying the top weight of 60.5kg – 5.5kg more than Speranzoso.
“But luckily enough my fellow was just that fit and that well presented we were able to get the job done.
“However, it certainly did become a tactical affair and for a four-horse field I think watching this race would have been a little more exciting than what people first thought.”
Coffey said he had gone into the race happy to take up the lead.
Then, after Lane and Speranzoso had more early speed, he decided to hold fire.
“Just about the mile it was very windy and it didn’t hurt have a horse in front of you guiding,” Coffey said.
“I don’t think it was protecting us at all, the wind was blowing everywhere, but just to have a horse in front of you to follow kept my horse on the job and concentrating and from the 800m I didn’t want to get caught flat footed so I moved up onto Damian and made it a race from there.”
