Forbidden Love wins Group 1 Canterbury Stakes

AAP
Forbidden dominates the Canterbury Stakes field at Randwick. (Photo: Steve Hart)

Just days after being stripped off the 2021 Canterbury Stakes due to Savatiano being disqualified, Hugh Bowman has notched up his 100th Group 1 victory – for the second time – aboard Forbidden Love in the 2022 Canterbury Stakes.

The Richard & Michael Freedman-trained mare made it two wins in just seven days, after romping in to win the Guy Walter Stakes last Saturday, but this win was much more special given the Group 1 status.

Ridden superbly by Bowman, Forbidden Love was able to lead throughout in the 1300m event, showing her rivals a clean pair of heels in the straight and pulling away to win by 1.75 lengths over Lighthouse and a fast-finishing Private Eye.

“I was very comfortable from an early part of that race,” Bowman said.

“She is so good into stride and she obviously won with authority on rain affected ground last week. I just grew in confidence when I took her to the barriers.

“She was a bit more settled today despite the fact she sweated up a lot, she was a bit more relaxed.”

When Bowman won his 100th Group 1 aboard Montefilia in the spring, there were no crowds on course due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so to be a 100-timer again in front of a crowd was very special he said.

“Obviously when Montefilia won there was nobody here so it is great to have the fans back,” he continued.

“It has been a wonderful journey for me, I’ve ridden some wonderful horses and I’m grateful to have my wonderful wife Christine by my side here today.”

Forbidden Love was not originally going to head to the Canterbury Stakes considering she won just seven days ago, but given her brilliant record on heavy tracks, co-trainer Michael Freedman said that when she pulled up as well as she did, he felt they had to push on.

“She just pulled up so well from last week,” Michael Freedman said.

“I thought, we could wait for the Coolmore and draw 15 and give weight to good fillies coming out of the Surround, so I thought, we may as well roll the dice.

“Nothing is a certainty in this game, as we all know, but I just thought with the conditions as they were going to potentially play out and how well she pulled up after the Guy Walter last week, we are probably never going to get a better chance at a Group One than this and it panned out well. She has been a terrific mare and there is still a bit to go.”

Forbidden Love is now a two-time Group 1-winning mare, and connections will be looking for a third in the Coolmore Classic later in the month.

SEE WHAT THE LOSING JOCKEYS HAD TO SAY

  • 2nd – James McDonald (Lighthouse): “A really courageous effort. Tries hard.”
  • 3rd – Regan Bayliss (Private Eye): “Terrific first up run. Just on-speed dominated.”
  • 4th – Jason Collett (Kolding): “Better performance. Ground unsuitable. Strikes a better surface he may get back to where he was.”
  • 5th – Glyn Schofield (Special Reward): “He ran another good race. He wasn’t at home in the ground but he got through it OK. Gave a bit of a kick but was one-paced.”
  • 6th – Chad Schofield (Dalasan): “He ran ok. Just found it too short and was a bit one-paced over that distance.”
  • 7th -Tommy Berry (Laws Of Indices): “Came out slow and it was a real sit and sprint after that.”
  • 8th – William Pike (Wild Planet): “Got back a bit too much and didn’t come on.”
  • 9th – Rhys McLeod (Dice Roll): “Very disappointing.”

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