Barber has put himself into Golden Slipper favouritism by overcoming adversity to take out the $1 million Golden Gift (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens under a masterful ride from Hugh Bowman.
Plan A went straight out the window for the James Cummings-trained youngster after the two-year-old Exceed and Excel colt blundering the start and jumped a length and a half last from barrier 10. Bowman decided to go back switch and to the inside and carve a passage to find the best possible route through the field.
Barber started at $5 odds with online bookmakers after winning the Kirkham Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick a fortnight at his first start.
2022 Golden Gift Replay
There were plenty of bumps along the way, but once in the clear after weaving his way back through the field the two-year-old showed his class, running down the outside to lunge on the post and claim the victory from the Bjorn Baker-trained Infatuation ($10) who had put in an outstanding effort under the guidance of Rachel King.
$4.30 favourite Summer Loving came flying home in a huge run for third for Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott.
“I wasn’t as relaxed as when Winx missed the start,” said Bowman.
“The plan was taken out of my hands at that point. So, I just thought I will ride him where he is. The pace was extreme from the outset. Mid-race I could feel I was detached from the pack.”
“But the horse was happy and I had to trust him to run his race. I won’t inject him into the fire so to speak. That trust I had in him paid off because when I did need him, I still think he was inclined to think about it, he would run around a bit as you saw when we got into clear space.
“It’s only his second start and he was nursery rhymed around the course in his first start.
“He had to dig deep today, and he produced. I would suggest he is one of the top 2yos in the country.”
Bowman has ridden a lot of great two-year-olds as one of the preeminent jockeys in the country, but a lot can go wrong in the early stages of their racing careers. He put his ability to have trust in the colt down to the confidence he has in the Godolphin team.
“They are very thorough in the way they do things, and the horses are well educated.
“It wasn’t the horses fault or my fault, just the race circumstances that I had to deal with. I didn’t think about winning, just riding the horse to run his race. That was all I could at that time, and I got more and more confident.”
With Cummings at Flemington, stable representative Darren Beadman could not speak more highly of their promising galloper.
“Plan A went out at the start so, we go to Plan B. I thought it was Belle Du Jour all over again with Little Lenny Beasley!
“I don’t know what happened at the start. As we said to Hughie before the race, he’s such a push button colt. He’s like an older horse to ride. He picked up, got his house in order and rode him for luck. Came out a little bit sideways at the 300m but knuckled down strongly. He’s a pretty talented colt.
“He was up there at the stalls. He acts like an older horse, like he’s had 5 or 6 starts. That is what holds him in good stead. He conserves his energy and blew them away at the finish.
“He drew one the other day in the Kirkham and had all the favours but today had to overcome adversity at a few disappointing sections of the race. The way that he let down and put his sights on the horse in front he really knuckled down.
“The sign of a good horse.”
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