3 minute read
A brief look back on some of the other races on Pakenham Cup Day.
Pal D'Oro with perfect prep earns Gold Bullion
Lightly raced five-year-old Pal D'Oro ($8) won the $175,000 VOBIS Gold Bullion (1400m) but surprised the stable after a less than emphatic gallop during the week before.
Now with five wins and as many placings in 15 starts, keeping the gelding happy is the main thing, especially in rising to a new level in winning a race of this new peak level for him.
"I'm surprised, I'm in shock, I'm lost for words," Ciaron Maher and Dave Eustace's stable representative Lucy Yeomans said.
"I never thought this horse would be the type of gelding that would win two in a row.
"He's a bit older and he's got great first-up form. His last gallop leading into this race just wasn't that good, but he's a bit of a thinker and we gallop him without the blinkers but I'm so proud of him."
Letting fast horses be fast – Najem Suhail
Co-trainers Robbie Griffiths and Mat de Kock were notable absentees from Pakenham but for a good reason – the latter's Bucks Day.
The win of Najem Suhail ($3.50 fav) in the RJ Sanderson & Associates BM78 Handicap over 1000 metres would have provided a highlight especially with upcoming feature summer sprints over the Christmas and New Year period in Melbourne.
"You know that saying let fast horses be fast, he didn't get the start right at all, he was a little bit slow and jumped right," jockey Blake Shinn said.
"I didn't rush him, I just allowed him to find his rhythm and he just built like a steam train, he's a very fast horse and it was sustained speed the whole way.
Squid Game disappointing
In the same race, the anticipated return of the Patrick Payne-trained Squid Game ($4.80) left backers feeling flat finishing tenth – beaten more than 20 lengths – in Najem Suhail's race.
Jockey Harry Coffey said that the horse's performance was out of character on a surface upgraded from a Good 4 to Good 3 early in the card.
"He was a bit reluctant to let down on the firming track," Coffey said.
"He just wasn't himself today and just didn't have the turn-of-foot that we're used to seeing."
Sadler calling Pakenham home
Journeyman trainer John Sadler is settling into her newer surroundings at Pakenham after the closure of training at Caulfield and kicked off Pakenham Cup Day in the best way possible with Flash Feeling's win in the John Duff & Co BM78 Handicap (2000m).
After a below expectation performance in the Group 3 Eclipse Stakes (1800m) seven days earlier, Sadler's confidence that the horse could back-up at Pakenham was vindicated.
"Strong and tough - that was a tough race that and he really toughed it out well," Sadler said of Flash Feeling ($4.80).
"He was a little bit disappointing I thought the other day actually.
"He wasn't at his best, I don't think, but he came through the run extremely well and showed me no signs at all why he shouldn't back up and he's a four-year-old stallion and never left an oat."
