The OTI Racing Team capped off a great day at Caulfield today when Gailo Chop led all of the way to win the Group 1 $1m Ladbrokes Stakes (2000m).
Gailo Chop, above, leads all of the way to win the Ladbrokes Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Ultimate Racing Photos.
The Terry Henderson led OTI Racing had earlier in the day won the Group 2 $400,000 Ladbrokes Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) with Lord Fandango and the Group 1 $500,000 Schweppes Thousand Guineas (1600m) with Aloisia.
Gailo Chop had been working back into form for the Darren Weir stable and the leading trainer said that the Ladbrokes Stakes looked to be the suitable race for the seven year old import.
“The team has done a lot of hard work behind the scenes because he did come to us with an injury,” Weir said.
“He has just been building up to something like that. I thought that every run has been great.”
“I was just waiting for the right day to get him fit enough to get him in front and I guess today was the day.”
“He can go the Cox Plate now. He has done his job at out stable now.”
Weir will now set Gailo Chop to take on champion mare Winx in the Group 1 $3m Ladbrokes Cox Plate (2040m) at The Valley on October 28.
Winning jockey Mark Zahra was bale to set the tempo up front and Gailo Chop was able to hold the strong finish of Johannes Vermeer ($31) with Kiwi galloper Jon Snow ($8.50) also running on for third.
Ladbrokes Stakes (2000m) Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | GAILO CHOP (FR) | Darren Weir | Mark Zahra | – | 5 | 59kg | $5.50 | ||
| 2 | 3 | JOHANNES VERMEER (IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | Ms Katelyn Mallyon | 0.2L | 6 | 59kg | $31 | ||
| 3 | 6 | JON SNOW (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Stephen Baster | 2.7L | 9 | 58kg | $8.50 | ||
| 4 | 8 | SINGLE GAZE | Nick Olive | Ms Kathy O’Hara | 2.8L | 1 | 57kg | $21 | ||
| 5 | 7 | INFERENCE | Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes | Dwayne Dunn | 4.05L | 3 | 58kg | $21 | ||
| 6 | 11 | BONNEVAL (NZ) | Murray Baker & Andrew Forsman | Damian Lane | 4.15L | 11 | 56kg | $3.70F | ||
| 7 | 4 | RIVEN LIGHT (IRE) | William Mullins | Glen Boss | 4.65L | 4 | 59kg | $21 | ||
| 8 | 9 | ABBEY MARIE | Michael Kent | Beau Mertens (a) | 4.75L | 10 | 57kg | $26 | ||
| 9 | 1 | HARTNELL (GB) | James Cummings | Glyn Schofield | 6L | 7 | 59kg | $4.20 | ||
| 10 | 10 | THE TAJ MAHAL (IRE) | Aidan O’Brien | Damien Oliver | 8L | 2 | 56.5kg | $10 | ||
| 11 | 5 | CALDERON (IRE) | Tony McEvoy | Luke Currie | 11L | 8 | 59kg | $51 |
