Hitotsu scored a breath-taking victory in the Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) at Flemington on Saturday for the Ciaron Maher & David Eustace training partnership.
The Ballarat-trained colt was first-up after a preparation last Spring that saw him progress from a Donald Maiden to a scintillating Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) victory in the space of just three starts.
Hitotsu became the first horse to win the Australian Guineas first-up, and just the third horse to complete the Victoria Derby/Australian Guineas double.
Jockey John Allen settled the colt in a midfield position on the rail in the early part of the race. Allen managed not to go around another horse in the straight, as an inside passage opened up for the former Irish jumps jockey.
The son of Maurice then showed his stamina to grind out a strong victory scoring by 0.4 of a length, beating home a gallant Lightsaber who has had a rough preparation leading into the race.
HITOTSU is a super colt!
An incredible return from the multiple G1 winner.#JRA #競馬 #騎手 @netkeiba @cmaherracing @eustacedj @JohnnyA_24 pic.twitter.com/FMKrw0UJ2I
— Racing.com (@Racing) March 5, 2022
An emotional Dave Eustace, who had his parents on-course, was interviewed by Racing.com after the Group 1 event.
“It’s great to have mum and dad here.
“Gutted the boss isn’t here to be honest, he’s up in Sydney.
“We don’t get to share many good wins.
“It was an awesome ride and he’s just a really good horse.
“I was a little bit worried about whether he had the speed to accelerate at the mile. He needed every inch of the mile.
The galloper looks to have a plethora of options ahead of him now, but Eustace isn’t quite sure what will be next for the galloper.
“He’s in the All Star Mile. It would have to be a possibility.
“We know he gets further, so I don’t know, we’ll worry about it tomorrow.”
Allen was confident that there is a lot more to offer from the exciting prospect.
“He can improve again from that,” he said.
“He was caught labouring a little bit in the ground.
“He’s better definitely on top of the ground, but it’s just toughness that got him there.
“He was always going to out-stay them in the finish.
“He’s definitely progressive.
“Don’t think we’ve seen the best of him yet.
Hitotsu is rated an $11 chance with Sportsbet to win the $5 million All Star Mile (1600m) at Flemington on March 19.
He is also a $5 chance in the Group 1 Rosehill Guineas (2000m) to be run on the same day if the Maher & Eustace team decide to take their star galloper to Sydney instead.
