Godolphin followers were cheering when the heavily backed Souchez raced to the front to take out the Listed $150,000 Hilton Stakes (1400m) at Flemington today.
Souchez, above, was well ed to win the Hilton Stakes at Flemington. Photo by Steve Hart.
The John O’Shea trained Souchez firmed in from $20 to start at $10 even though he was to jump from the second outside barrier in the capacity sixteen horse field.
Winning jockey James McDonald eased back from the wide gate and gave Souchez a quiet run near the tail of the field and when it looked like he had nowhere to go in the straight, the runs appeared and the Lonhro colt went on to score a long head win over the Nigel Blackiston trained Inside Agent ($10).
Damien Oliver’s mount Man From Uncle ($15), also from a wide gate, worked home okay to fill third spot.
The favourite Niccolance ($3.60) had a tough run three wide also coming off a wide gate and faded in the straight to beat one runner home in fifteenth position.
The lightly raced Souchez is virtually back from the dead after recovering from a severe case of colic during the Brisbane Winter Carnival and O’Shea is keen to head back to Queensland next year after a possible trip to Perth.
The Group 2 $400,000 W.A. Guineas (1600m) at Ascot in Perth on November 19 is in O’Shea’s sights as is the Group 1 $1.5m Stradbroke Handicap (1400m) at Eagle Farm in June.
“We nearly lost him Brisbane during the Winter and a great effort by the team to get him back,” O’Shea said.
“He got very ill at the races and spent about a fortnight in hospital and they saved him. It was sort of like a colic post-race.”
“We have him in at Perth, in the Guineas. Whether we go or not, we will just wait and see how he pulls up.”
“I think he will be a back end Autumn horse in Sydney and then he might find his way into a Stradbroke.”
Hilton Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | SOUCHEZ | John O’Shea | James McDonald | – | 15 | 60kg | $10 |
| 2 | 6 | INSIDE AGENT (NZ) | Nigel Blackiston | Hugh Bowman | 0.2L | 1 | 55kg (cd 55.5kg) | $10 |
| 3 | 12 | MAN FROM UNCLE | Anthony Cummings | Damien Oliver | 0.4L | 13 | 54kg (cd 54.5kg) | $15 |
| 4 | 7 | SWORD OF LIGHT | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Stephen Baster | 3.15L | 9 | 54.5kg | $31 |
| 5 | 3 | BENZ | Gordon Richards | Dwayne Dunn | 3.25L | 16 | 58.5kg | $17 |
| 6 | 14 | ENIGMAN | Ciaron Maher | Luke Nolen | 3.35L | 8 | 54kg | $21 |
| 7 | 10 | DAM READY | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Regan Bayliss (a) | 3.75L | 4 | 54kg | $26 |
| 8 | 8 | CRAFTED | John Hyam | Kerrin McEvoy | 4.5L | 3 | 54kg | $21 |
| 9 | 11 | MAGNAROCK | Brian Gentle | Dean Yendall | 5L | 14 | 54kg | $101 |
| 10 | 16 | PALLADIAN | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Brenton Avdulla | 5.5L | 2 | 54kg | $21 |
| 11 | 9 | VERSTAPPEN | Danny O’Brien | Craig Williams | 6.5L | 10 | 54kg | $9.50 |
| 12 | 13 | SIMPLY INVINCIBLE | Peter Morgan & Craig Widdison | Glyn Schofield | 6.6L | 5 | 54kg | $101 |
| 13 | 5 | VALLIANO | David & B Hayes & T Dabernig | Damian Lane | 6.7L | 12 | 55.5kg | $14 |
| 14 | 2 | TESSERA | John O’Shea | William Buick | 7.95L | 6 | 59kg | $12 |
| 15 | 4 | NICCOLANCE | Peter & Paul Snowden | Blake Shinn | 8.35L | 11 | 57kg | $3.60F |
| 16 | 15 | GRATWICK | Darren Weir | Chad Schofield | 11.1L | 7 | 54kg (cd 54.5kg) | $16 |
