Market drifter Santa Ana Lane scored a narrow first up win in the Group 3 $150,000 Ladbrokes Zeditave Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield today.
Santa Ana Lane (pictured centre with yellow cap) wins the 2016 Ladbrokes Zeditave Stakes on Blue Diamond Stakes Day. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos
The Lee and Anthony Freedman trained Santa Ana Lane was having his first run back from a spell and defied a betting drift to record a nose win over Popovich ($8.50) with the $3.20 favourite Bassett another nose away in third spot.
Lee Freedman said that he thought Santa Ana Lane would need the run today and this was reflected in the betting ring with the gelding’s price blowing out from $6.50 to start at the double figure odds of $10.
“I love the horse,’ Lee Freedman said.
“The market shared my view of where he was at today because I thought he was a little bit underdone for first up for five months and that was reflected in his drift in the market too.”
“And he sweated up in the yard, so I am watching him ease out from $5 something to $1o and thought that that was probably right.”
“He could be a very very good horse this and there is a lot of improvement in him yet.”
Freedman is now looking at races in Sydney over ‘The Championships’ at Randwick and has picked out the Listed $150,000 South Pacific Classic (1400m) on April 9 as a suitable race.
And he also has thoughts of going to Queensland to run in the Group 2 $400,000 Queensland Guineas (1600m) at Eagle Farm on June 11 during the Brisbane Winter Carnival.
“I have targeted him towards ‘The Championships’ week. There are some really good races for him like the South Pacific Classic and there is another good three year old sprint there and then onto Brisbane hopefully for the Queensland Guineas.”
2016 Ladbrokes Zeditave Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 11 | SANTA ANA LANE | Lee & Anthony Freedman | Ben Melham | – | 5 | 55kg | $10 |
| 2 | 8 | BROCKHOFF | Ciaron Maher | Damien Oliver | 0.1L | 6 | 55kg | $8.50 |
| 3 | 5 | BASSETT (NZ) | Peter G Moody | Daniel Stackhouse | 0.2L | 8 | 55kg | $3.20F |
| 4 | 2 | ODYSSEY MOON | Robert Smerdon | Mark Zahra | 0.4L | 9 | 57kg | $16 |
| 5 | 3 | PURITAN | Jason Warren | Nicholas Hall | 1.9L | 7 | 57kg | $7 |
| 6 | 4 | WELL SPRUNG | Lyn Tolson & Leonie Proctor | Damian Lane | 2.1L | 4 | 57kg | $21 |
| 7 | 6 | MOGADOR | John O’Shea | Craig Williams | 2.85L | 11 | 55kg | $7 |
| 8 | 12 | TUSCANY HERO | Wendy Kelly | Luke Currie | 4.1L | 10 | 55kg | $101 |
| 9 | 7 | EL GRECO | Peter G Moody | Glen Boss | 4.5L | 1 | 55kg | $18 |
| 10 | 9 | POPOVICH (NZ) | Robert Smerdon | Dwayne Dunn | 4.8L | 3 | 55kg | $8 |
| 11 | 10 | STAR PLANET | John Sadler | Patrick Moloney (a) | 5.55L | 2 | 55kg | $201 |
| – | 1 | PRINCE OF BROOKLYN | Mick Price | Craig Newitt | – | 0 | – | – |
