The John O’Shea & Tom Charlton-trained Athabascan ($6.50) has returned to form, claiming the Group 3 St Leger Stakes (2600m) to kick off the Everest Day program at Randwick on Saturday afternoon.
The son of Almanzor was coming through the Group 1 Metropolitan Handicap (2400m) a fortnight ago, with the five-year-old gelding relishing the step up in trip and Soft 5 conditions on offer.
Tommy Berry was able to place Athabascan in the perfect stalking position throughout the journey, cuddled up behind a decent tempo courtesy of the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott-trained Military Mission ($12.00), sent to the top by Adam Hyeronimus in the early stages.
New Zealand raider Trust In You ($8.50) got the rails run turning for home, while the Ciaron Maher-trained Wyclif ($10.00) cut the corner in the final 400m to get the last crack at Athabascan who was sent to the front in the early part of the straight.
Race favourites Alegron ($4.00) and Etna Rosso ($4.80) were nowhere to be seen in the finish, with the latter getting chopped out turning for home.
Waltham ($6.50) was attempting to sustain a long run from the rear of the field, but it was all in vain as Athabascan and Wyclif sat down to fight out the finish, with the former narrowly getting the verdict to claim the 2024 St Leger Stakes.
2024 St Leger Stakes replay – Athabascan
Co-trainer John O’Shea was on course to breakdown the win before declaring the first Tuesday of November would be where punters see Athabascan next.
“It was a great run,” said O’Shea.
“We’ve been so happy with him, we haven’t been disappointed with him, but he just hasn’t had circumstances to suit. Today he got them and he got the job done.
“That’s been on our agenda all season (Melbourne Cup), we just needed a positive run today to get him back in the game. I think he drops five or six kilos into the Cup and he’ll run a very good race because he’s a good two-miler.
“We’ve been so happy with this horse all season, he just hasn’t had circumstances to suit. He got a good ride today and he showed what he’s capable of.
“He drops significantly in weight going into the Cup, that run will top him off. We look forward to the first Tuesday in November.”
Tommy Berry was happy with the horses’ work leading into this and delighted with the performance.
“I actually gave him his final piece of work leading him to the Metrop,” said Berry.
“I said to John, ‘you’ ve got a good chance in this’, but obviously they rode him forward on that day and that is probably not the way to ride him, so we just had him in a position today.
“I was mindful to keep Kerrin (Etna Rosso) where he was early, so I didn’t get pushed to the fence, just because I knew I wanted to get on my bike early.
“He was incredible in the Sydney Cup and we rode him that way, switched the stick through probably four times just to keep his mind on the job, but off to the Melbourne Cup now.”
Athabascan is currently a $34.00 chance with horse racing bookmakers for the 2024 Melbourne Cup (3200m) on November 5.
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