South Australian three year old Lord Aspen made it four wins from four starts with a victory in the Listed $150,000 Hilton Hotels & Resorts Stakes (1400m) at Flemington today.
Lord Aspen makes it 4 wins from 4 starts in the Hilton Hotel & Resorts Stales at Flemington. Photo by Sarah Ebbett.
Winning trainer Mick Huxtable will give Lord Aspen one more run before heading home to Murray Bridge and plans to run the Good Journey gelding in the Group 2 $300,000 Sportingbet Sandown Guineas (1600m) at Sandown next Saturday.
“Sandown Guineas next Saturday, if he pulls up okay” Huxtable said.
And he would love to return to Melbourne for the Autumn Carnival with Lord Aspen who still has a lot of improvement ahead.
“He will back in the Autumn, probably a light couple of runs then set for the Spring,” Huxtable said.
“He still doesn’t know what he is doing. He will be a nice horse next.”
Lord Aspen had won all his three starts in his home state with a first up win in at Balaklava in June and two wins at Morphettville prior to heading to Melbourne.
Top Adelaide jockey Matthew Neilson has been aboard the three year old for all his wins and gave Lord Aspen the perfect ride today.
From barrier two, Neilson had the big gelding travelling sweetly in third position and once the large field entered the long Flemington straight, Lord Aspen ($3.30 favourite) had clear space all around and just toyed with the opposition and was never going to get run down.
Runner up Orient Line ($31) tried to make a race of it up along the fence but couldn’t peg back the winner while Ducal Castle ($26) finished strongly out wide for third.
“Three starts back home he has done it pretty easy. To come here today he was just like a true professional,” Neilson said.
“He still has a little bit to learn, he switched off when he thought that it was all over but he still had a hundred to go. One snuck up inside of him, he dug deep and got the cookies.”
Hilton Hotels & Resorts Stakes Result
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | LORD ASPEN | Mick Huxtable | Matthew Neilson | – | 2 | 56.5kg | $3.30F |
| 2 | 13 | ORIENT LINE | John Moloney | Kerrin McEvoy | 0.2L | 4 | 54.5kg | $31 |
| 3 | 12 | DUCAL CASTLE | Peter G Moody | Daniel Stackhouse | 1.2L | 8 | 54.5kg | $26 |
| 4 | 2 | ARMADA | Peter G Moody | Hugh Bowman | 1.95L | 16 | 56.5kg | $8 |
| 5 | 17e | ULMANN | Peter G Moody | Luke Nolen | 2.15L | 10 | 54.5kg | $17 |
| 6 | 6 | SEENAAN | Mick Price | Daniel Moor | 2.25L | 1 | 56kg | $31 |
| 7 | 3 | HUSSON EAGLE | Patrick Payne | Brad Rawiller | 2.45L | 9 | 56.5kg | $9 |
| 8 | 9 | STAVIVA | Matt Laurie | Ben Melham | 2.85L | 7 | 55kg | $15 |
| 9 | 14 | LAZYAXL | Shaun Dwyer | Michael Rodd | 3.35L | 13 | 54.5kg (cd 55kg) | $17 |
| 10 | 11 | VUELTA (NZ) | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Michael Walker | 5.1L | 12 | 54.5kg | $21 |
| 11 | 10 | SEBRELLA | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Ms Katelyn Mallyon (a) | 5.5L | 14 | 54.5kg | $41 |
| 12 | 7 | LIMEHILLS | Paul Messara | Craig Williams | 8.25L | 11 | 55.5kg | $14 |
| 13 | 5 | NICOSCENE | Anthony Freedman | Mark Zahra | 9L | 15 | 56kg | $10 |
| 14 | 15 | GRECO | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn | 9.5L | 5 | 54.5kg | $14 |
| 15 | 19e | DURENDAL | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Damian Lane | 11.25L | 6 | 54.5kg | $31 |
| 16 | 16 | JARKLIN | Rod Symons | Chris Symons | 11.45L | 3 | 54.5kg | $151 |
