Cylinder ($1.50) and Ouroboros ($11) have produced one of the best finishes to a race that we have seen in sometime, with the James Cummings-trained colt defeating the Mick Price & Micheal Kent Jnr-trained colt in the Group 3 Vain Stakes.
After being set out as a long odds-on favourite with most online bookmakers, many punters would have been worried when Cylinder looked as though he wouldn’t get there; however, Blake Shinn got every little bit out of the son of Exceed And Excel and he got his head down in time.
The Golden Slipper runner-up had been given two quiet trials before his fresh start in the Vain Stakes and was considered one of the best bets of the day, but outside of the winner, the runner-up and third-placegetter I Am Unstoppable ($12) will be worth following at their next start.
Now that Cylinder has knocked over his first assignment, we wait to find out where the Godolphin team will take him next.
2023 Vain Stakes Replay – Cylinder
With James Cummings in Sydney, his Victorian stable foreman Sean Keogh spoke post-race about the win.
“It’s very important to be winning this Stakes races along the way, so James (Cummings) and the team will take that into consideration for where we need to get to,” Keogh explained.
“With the two nice trials coming in, we never let the horse off the bridal and you could just see there that his class really tolled out late.
“It is really good to get the win and put his name up there with those horses like Bivouac, the world champion sprinter, that James really targets to kick off their spring campaigns.
“Sky’s the limit with the amount of options that he’s got at six furlongs, so I will leave that up to James and the team.”
Blake Shinn brought up his third win of the day on Cylinder, and he spoke post-race about the win and Cylinder’s potential.
“He was a little bit ring-rusty, and full credit to the second horse (Ouroboros) they made a race of it and put it to us in the early stages and they put it to us in the prior to the turn,” Shinn said.
“My horse was out of his comfort zone early and when the chips were down he was off the bridal, but he never stopped and showed determination.
“I wasn’t sure if we got there, but I tell you what, his class really shone through, and he’s got a lot to offer this horse.
“His class is proven with a second in the Golden Slipper, and he has got credentials to target some of the best three-year-old’s around.
“This isn’t his main target today, but it will look good on his CV, being a three-year-old colt and I’m sure that he will step up to whatever James (Cummings) and the team throw at him next.”
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