Crusaders Castle justified his big wraps when he scored a gritty win in the feature race on Saturday night’s Moonee Valley card, the $40,000 Group 3 MHRC Victoria Sires Classic.
The Jayne Davies-trained colt made it three wins from three starts when he led all the way to defeat Tanabi Bromac and Sledging in the 2100m event.
The Clyde-based trainer was thrilled to see the regally-bred son of Christian Cullen win at his first metropolitan start.
“There was a lot of hype around him and I’m not really too sure why, but he went nicely tonight and looks a real nice horse,” she said of the half-brother to former star mare Mother Courage.
And while punters were just as thrilled to see Crusaders Castle justify his $1.50 quote, he was made to work much harder for victory than his previous wins at Bendigo and Ballarat.
Tanabi Bromac ($4) sat outside the hot pot for most of the race and served it up to him from the 400-metre mark, forcing master reinsman Chris Alford to ask Crusaders Castle for the supreme effort.
He turned for home leading by two metres, a margin he maintained until the finish line. Despite the saturated track, Crusaders Castle was still able to zip home the final 800 metres in 58.5 seconds for an overall mile rate of 2:01.8.
Davies said Crusaders Castle would be better for the run.
“Chris never really touched him with the whip, so I’d say he had a fair bit up his sleeve,” she said.
Crusaders Castle’s win was a further fillip for the Group 1 Alabar Victoria Derby, the final of which will be run at Moonee Valley on Saturday, March 1.
It came a week after highly-rated Lance Justice-trained star Normie flashed his Derby bona fides in the MHRC Cup. Tanabi Bromac and Sledging also ran second and third in that event.
Davies will now give Crusaders Castle a let up before tackling the Derby heats at the Valley on February 23.
