Stayer-turned-sprinter Linton stole the show at Eagle Farm on Saturday prevailing in one of the most astonishing Stradbroke Handicap finishes in the race’s 123-year history.
Photo by Racing and Sports
The white warrior sizzled home up the fence reeling in local star Buffering in the final few bounds claiming his first Group 1 and validating trainer John Sadler’s assessment that the six-year-old was good enough to win a major sprint.
It looked like Buffering had finally shed his Group 1 bridesmaid tag just 100m from home. He set the tempo and kicked clear at the top of the straight putting what looked to be enough of a margin on the rest of them.
As Buffering kicked, Linton was still near last with two furlongs in front of him to weave some magic.
Jockey Nicholas Hall made the key decision to stay on the fence, and it opened up superbly for him. Every horse in front of him drifted off the rail and Linton quickly found top gear.
There was still at least five lengths to make up at the 200m and about three more to find 100m from home.
Just as Buffering looked to have secured an elusive major, the Victorian grey exploded to the lead and finished almost a length in front, such was the power of his final burst.
Sydney mare Streama ran third while retiring colt and race favourite Your Song, the super impressive BTC Cup winner just four weeks ago, had every chance to win the race but faded in the final furlong and finished 5.5L away in 14th spot.
Against the trend of 2013, the three-year-olds didn’t enjoy a very prolific Stradbroke.
Queensland Guineas winner Sizzling was first home, and he was back in seventh spot 2.5L away. Doomben 10,000 winner Epaulette, and Queensland galloper Better Than Ready never featured.
In hindsight, Linton’s win wasn’t as shocking as his $30 price suggested. He’d won two in a row in Adelaide – the Listed Holdfast Insurance Handicap (1400m) carrying a whopping 62kg and the Group 3 R A Lee Stakes over the mile.
Saturday’s 54.5kg was the least weight he’d carried since failing in the 2010 Melbourne Cup.
He ran to 120 in winning the race, a pound shy of Mid Summer Music’s mark from 12 months ago.
For the second-straight year Buffering won the race at the weights, equalling his mark of 126 from last year.
Linton’s winning figure was the lowest since Mr Baritone won it with 114 in 2008, and about two pounds off the average winning figure for the last five years.
It was his best performance since finishing second to Shocking in the 2011 Australian Cup (2000m), where he ran to 122.
For Buffering it was the second time he’d hit 126, and the seventh time he’d yielded a figure of 124 or better.
Linton has been spelled and Sadler is already planning another tilt at the Cox Plate over the spring.
“I have to talk to his owner Stefan Friborg and also Malua Racing manager Troy [Corstens] but I would like to set him for the Cox Plate,” Sadler said.
“I made a mistake last spring. We pushed on with him after he had a niggling injury and it was the wrong thing to do.
“If I could have him in the same condition as he was in winning the Stradbroke during then I would definitely head in that direction.”
It’s not an overly common pathway, but one which has been traversed in a handful of times over the past two decades.
Dane Ripper did it most successfully in 1997, winning the race just four and a half months after claiming the Stradbroke.
More recently Sincero tried the double after winning the 2011 Stradbroke, but finished 6.5L adrift of Pinker Pinker that same year.
In any event, Cox Plates are notoriously difficult to win, and history says Linton would have to improve several pounds to claim the unlikely double.
Ocean Park ran to 128 in winning the race last year while So You Think produced a stunning 132 when winning the race back in 2010.
The Stradbroke was the third of three Group 1s held at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
Just 40 minutes earlier, Chris Waller’s Hawkspur impressively won the Queensland Derby (2400m), thus completing the Sunshine State’s three-year-old Triple Crown.
He already had the Rough Habit Plate (2100m) and the Grand Prix Stakes (2200m) in his keeping.
He began poorly but settled down in midfield and simply waited for the run to come at the top of the straight.
In the blink of an eye he burst clear, and never gave anything else a chance.
Electric Fusion finished well on the rail to grab a narrow second from third-placed Honorious but Hawkspur’s final margin was a decisive three lengths.
The run netted an impressive Timeform figure of 115, the best since Dariana ran to 116p in winning the race in 2010.
It put Hawkspur about two pounds above the five-year average for the race and looks to have injected some much-needed youth into the Australian staying ranks.
The run was also a new peak for Hawkspur. He improved with every run this campaign which began with a fifth placing in a Benchmark 85 Handicap (1400m) at Randwick on April 1 where he ran a figure of 92.
Hawkspur will be spelled now with Waller to nut out a potential spring campaign.
The Metropolitan (2400m) at Randwick would be a logical target, and don’t be surprised to see this talented galloper contest some of the major staying races of the Melbourne spring.
The two-year-olds kicked off the Group 1 racing earlier in the day with Gai Waterhouse’s impressive Romantic Touch won the recently renamed JJ Atkins (1600m).
The son of Northern Meteor was too strong in the race formerly known as the TJ Smith, leading from the outset and fending off strong challenges from minor placegetters Zoustar and Paximadia.
Romantic Touch was coming off a 7.5L demolition job against an open two-year-old field at Canterbury and was heavily backed to claim his first Group 1 win just three starts after breaking his maiden.
The run produced a figure of 115p and looks to have unearthed another talented juvenile from the Waterhouse yard.
Waterhouse narrowly missed winning the race last year with Kabayan, who was beaten a nose by Sizzling. Both galloper ran to 118 in that race which looks to have been a slightly stronger renewal.
Academus, who won the Daybreak Lover on Saturday, ran third in that race.
Romantic Touch landed almost a pound above the five-year average for this race, although that number is pulled down somewhat by Linky Dink’s modest 107, which won the race in 2009.
Waterhouse will likely spell the horse now and start planning a Caulfield Guineas campaign.
