3 minute read
Trainer and jockey quotes after Sansom takes out the Group 3 Big Screen Company Bletchingly Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday.
Race Result:
1st: Sansom (Ben Allen/Phillip Stokes) - $17
2nd: Streets Of Avalon (Zac Spain/Shane Nichols) - $6.50
Eq 3rd: The Astrologist (Damien Thornton/Leon and Troy Corstens) $7
Eq 3rd: Isaurian (Jamie Kah/James Cummings) $6
Winning Time: 1:11.76 Last 600m: n/a
Margins: Short-Half-Head x 1/2L
Sansom gets the job done!
— Racing.com (@Racing) July 24, 2021
Excellent training performance from @pstokesracing to get Sansom home in the Group 3 Bletchingly Stakes.@MelbRacingClub @RacingVictoria pic.twitter.com/g1vbC2L4yY
Winning Trainer: Phillip Stokes
Come back a better horse: "Full credit to my team back at Pakenham, they've done a fantastic job with him. We've put a lot of time into getting him to relax this time in and obviously 'Benny' (Ben Melham) knows the horse super. He had to fight him for a bit, but once he got the cover, he knew he'd switch off. We just changed things around this prep. He did all of his pre-training at my farm, we've got an uphill training track there with two inclines and this is the first horse we've had race off it, so we're off to a really good start. I thought he was vulnerable today. I played it down to my owners, I said 'oh, I think he'll get beat, he's only had the one jumpout'. He's a good horse, and he's in for a very good prep."
On targets for the spring: "I'd like to see him stretch out over a bit further in time. I think now that he's got this run under his belt, if we can get him out to a mile, he might be a horse that can get into a Toorak (Handicap) or something like that."
Lawrence next?: "Well, it's probably where all the opposition is going so we'll more than likely be looking at that now."
Got the capability to step out over further?: "I think so, he's an older, more mature horse and he's in a really good place. Yeah, it's just a great start.
Winning Jockey: Ben Allen
A favourite: "He's been a very good horse to me. A big thanks to the Stokes camp for getting me on him. He's starting to mature into a nice horse and I reckon he'll stretch out over a bit of ground.
Worked differently now: "I've only sat on him a handful of times, including trialling him, but it's been a big effort coming into this race off one trial. Phillip's got an uphill track and he seems to have worked him and he finished it off well.
Where to ride him over longer trips: "He's probably a horse where you ride him where he's comfortable. When he was in a bit weaker grade he could lead his races up quite easily, but going up in grade he's not going to have that to his advantage, so probably with a little bit of cover but once he get to 1400 and a mile it's going to be a bit tricky. He's quite a competitive horse, so I guess we'll have to deal with that."
Shane Nichols on Street Of Avalon
"He was super. He was under pressure from the top of the straight, flat -out, and all-bar a bob-of-the-head. I think he was in front a few yards before the post, but that doesn't count.
"He'll have the perfect lead-up now into the P B Lawrence. Three weeks will be spot on for him after a hard run like that. We just hope that we get a firm deck for the rest of the spring. It probably won't happen, we'll get a day when it's wet, but hopefully it's not a main day when we're in.
"He'll come through that because there was a bit of cushion which is far-better than going around on a Good 2."
