Star Patrol impresses again at HQ

This article was written by Carl Di lorio for racing.com

There was no wide-margin success for Star Patrol at his second visit down the Flemington straight on Saturday, but the stopwatch again made for favourable viewing ahead of his first attempt in Stakes company.

Star Patrol produced a jaw-dropping seven-length win as an $11 chance in a three-year-old handicap over 1200 metres at Flemington last month, stopping the clock in 1:08.84.

Black Caviar's five-length debut victory over 1000m in April 2009 had been the previous largest winning margin down the straight during the past 15 years.

Star Patrol winning at Flemington (Image: Racing Photos)

Star Patrol ($1.35 favourite) remained handicapped on the limit weight of 54kg and expectations were far greater ahead of Saturday's $130,000 Ecycle Solutions Trophy (1100m), which he managed to claim comfortably by two lengths.

Outback Action ($5.50), Capital Reign ($26) and Star Patrol ran along at the front of the field, covering the first 500 metres in 29.19 seconds.

Capital Reign was the first to surrender racing solo against the inside rail, while Outback Action kept pace with Star Patrol until the 150-metre mark, with Brett Prebble driving the odds-on favourite under a strong left-hand whip ride to the line, stopping the clock at 1:02.45, just outside Loveyamadly's track record of 1:02.15.

"He's still a big baby in a sense, he jumped out neutral today and the first 50 metres he never really took the bridle and I thought he's going to be a couple of lengths off them," Prebble said.

"Then once he gets up into his stride, he really becomes strong and wants to be competitive and start racing.

"In the future I'm not going to take that off him, he's a fast horse, he's a speed horse, so let him be fast.

"1200 metres is really his trip, I think the high cruising speed drops a lot of horses and they can't sustain his gallop. That's the difference between the good ones and bad ones, they can't sustain their sprint."

Trainer Clinton McDonald also described Star Patrol as a 'big baby', noting the necessity of Prebble changing the whip into his left hand to prevent 'floating' at the front of the field.

"The best part was the last 100m he really got into his work and was strong through the line," McDonald said.

"Looking at going back to 1200 metres, I think that's the distance that will really suit him. He's shown good courage, he's fighting out the finish, which is good to see."

A gelding by Starspangledbanner, Star Patrol will make his first appearance in Stakes company in the $160,000 Listed A.R. Creswick Stakes (1200m), a race restricted to three-year-olds, at Flemington on June 18.

Side note

Astute Bloodstock purchased Star Patrol's dam It's One (O'Reilly) privately under $100k for Lustre Lodge and partners and the mating to Starspangledbanner was also done by Astute Bloodstock.

 

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