Richard & Will Freedman have combined with Damian Lane to take out the Listed John Dillon Stakes (1400m) with Coastwatch, who put a run of outs behind him with a dominant victory at Sandown on Saturday afternoon.
The son of Fastnet Rock was heavily supported late with top horse racing bookmakers, jumping at $3.60 on the second line of betting behind the Ciaron Maher-trained favourite, Chorlton Lane ($3).
As expected, Buffalo River ($4.60) jumped smartly and took up the lead, setting a strong tempo ahead of Coastwatch, with Chorlton Lane and Aztec Ruler ($3.70) sitting off them.
Turning for home, Lane asked for the ultimate effort from the winner, and he picked up quickly to take over from a tiring Buffalo River, while Jye McNeil on Aztec Ruler tried to hold Shane Foley in a pocket aboard Chorlton Lane.
As those two continued to battle for the same run, Coastwatch extended his margin on the field and ran away with a one-length victory, with Chorlton Lane and Buffalo River filling the placings.
Following the victory, co-trainer Will Freedman spoke to the media.
“Sam (Kavanagh) was one of Amy’s (Yargi) and my great mates, and he always used to tell me actually that he (Coastwatch) would win a nice race again, so its still very much at the forefront of our memory,” Freedman said of the late Sam Kavanagh.
“The ownership changed in Coastwatch recently, and they are getting paid dividends.
“I was happy that there was some genuine speed, and I was gonna get a bit worried that it would be a sit-and-sprint.
“Because he is rock-hard fit and had a few runs this prep, he gets better as he gets deeper into his prep.
“When he got to the bend, I thought, ‘Well, we’re carting them up here; we might be giving something a bit of a trail,’ but he gave a good kick at the 300 (metre mark) and put them away.
“It was a beautiful ride.”
Damian Lane brought up a riding double aboard Coastwatch, and he spoke post-race about the win.
“It worked out really well. He stepped good, and he was a touch keen early, but when Buffalo River put the tempo into the race, he travelled perfect,” Lane said.
“I got nice suck in behind, and when I presented him, he was really genuine.
“Sometimes he can run some really good races, but has struggled to put them away, so it was good that he really put them away today and ran through the line strong.”
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