Talented three-year-old Captain Electric (NZ) (Savabeel) was well and truly in his element when he stepped out beyond 1700m for the first time and won Saturday’s A$150,000 Tobin Brothers Celebrating Lives Handicap (2400m) at Caulfield.
The New Zealand-bred son of Savabeel had his third start for Pakenham trainer Andrea Leek in Saturday’s stamina test, having scored a 1600m maiden win at Moe on July 12 before finishing fifth over 1700m at Flemington last week. He had previously collected one placing from four starts for Emma-Lee and David Browne.
Captain Electric relished the additional distance of Saturday’s 2400m race, settling into a smooth rhythm in third or fourth spot before jockey Damian Lane began to move him through his gears approaching the home turn.
Captain Electric loomed on the outside of fellow Kiwi-bred Phats (NZ) (Embellish) at the top of the straight, then quickened well to take charge. Captain Electric dashed away to score an emphatic victory by a length and three-quarters.
“Having the race run at a genuine tempo helped him,” Lane said. “He was a touch keen on the bridle early in the race, but once we found cover, he got into a lovely rhythm and he was always going to be hard to beat.
“Andrea has done a great job with this horse, and he did very well going straight from 1700m to 2400m today. You know that the Leek-trained horses are always going to be very fit, so you’re never shy to put them into a race. I did that today and he was too good.”
Captain Electric has now had seven starts for two wins, a second and A$109,530 in stakes.
“He’s a lovely horse who’d always shown us that he was going to get up over ground,” Leek said. “We’re just lucky to have him. He’s a gem.
“He’s so easy to do anything with – I think he’s the easiest that we’ve got in the stable. We haven’t had to do a lot of work with him.
“We’ll see how he pulls up and then make a plan around what we do next.”
Captain Electric was bred by Ultra Thoroughbred Racing and is by Savabeel out of the Italian-bred mare My Central (Central Park), who won seven races including the Gr.3 Balanchine Stakes (1800m) in Dubai. All of the Central Park mare’s five foals to race have been winners, headed by this season’s Gr.3 Easter Cup (2000m) and Listed Ballarat Cup (2000m) winner Captain Envious (NZ) (Savabeel).
My Central is also the granddam of Umgawa (Shamus Award), who has won four races and finished second in the Gr.3 Aurie’s Star Handicap (1200m) in Melbourne.
