Improving youngster Winontop upset favourite backers when he took out the $65,000 Novice Stakes over 1200m on the Polytrack on Friday night.
Riding the speed throughout, Winontop, ridden by Ronnie Stewart, scored by a nose over Ip Man (Oscar Chavez) with Golden Tree (Vlad Duric) three-and-a-half lengths away in third spot.
The victory brought up a winning double for lightweight jockey Ronnie Stewart and was a welcome change of luck in photo finishes for trainer Michael Freedman.
“We had one go our way for a change,” joked Freedman after the race.
Stewart elected to take the sit on the outside of Valevole (Saimee Jumaat) in the early stages of the race before applying a little pressure coming off the back.
On turning for home Stewart took Winontop to the front where he kicked clear before Chavez issued his challenge.
In a head-and-head struggle over the final 150m of the contest, Winontop and Ip Man slugged it out with both gallopers looking the winner at various stages.
“To be honest I thought I had been beaten,” said Stewart.
“Around 50m out I was going to hold him, but right on the line I thought he had got me.
“But he put his head down and luckily got the stride in.
“He's been a bit of a handful, but he's slowly learning and things are starting to go the right way for him.”
Following a debut second behind Birthday Gift, Winontop then took out an 1100m maiden on the Polytrack coming from just off the pace.
Freedman selected the Novice Stakes with some confidence for Winontop but got quite a shock when he saw the nominations for the race.
“I thought sometimes you can strike a fairly weak Novice, but when I saw the nominations for this race it was quite strong,” said Freedman.
“I thought he had improved quite a bit from his maiden win, but Ip Man is a very good horse and Valevole was good winning at his first start.
“He's a genuine horse and I thought he would run well, but I would be lying if I said I was confident he would win.
“I said to the owner on his work and with the improvement he had shown that he would be there somewhere at the finish.
“I think the form should hold-up alright from the race as well.”
A three-year-old by California Dane from the Canny Lad mare Lycme, Winontop, which cost A$110,000 as a yearling, took his prizemoney to around $80,000 for the R Racing Stable with his victory.
After winning aboard Eatons Gold in Race 2 - the $65,000 Initiation Stakes - Stewart rung up a treble when Maha Veeran took out the $35,000 Class 5 Stakes over 1200m.
