The lone filly in the Newmarket Handicap In Secret has taken out the Group 1 feature at Flemington on Super Saturday, with Dean Holland picking up the ride to win his second Group 1 of his career.
With Jamie Kah being involved in the fall earlier in the program, James Cummings and the Godolphin team were tasked with finding a replacement jockey for In Secret in the feature and Dean Holland was the only jockey that could ride at 51.5kg, so he was the obvious choice.
The I Am Invincible filly had her nay sayers coming into the Newmarket Handicap, but she did win the Coolmore Stud Stakes for the three-year-olds in the spring and she replicated that Coolmore win as close as possible, by putting a space on her rivals down the Flemington straight.
In Secret was the online bookmakers favourite, at the start of the day at Flemington, however, with the jockey change, she drifted late to start at $6, with the race favourite I Wish I Win flashing home for third behind Lofty Strike.
2023 Newmarket Handicap Replay – In Secret
James Cummings and Godolphin brought up their first winner on Super Saturday with In Secret and Cummings spoke post-race of their filly’s strong win.
“I said, ‘Dean will you ride my filly for me in the Newmarket?’ and he said, ‘I think I can make myself available’,” Cummings explained.
“So, we went through the ride for the next 25 minutes.
“He’s a pretty bullish guy, you know, he didn’t seem phased at all for any minute with me, and he rode her accordingly.
“I’ve gotta give him credit for filling big shoes there and doing the job.
“It was a proper running of the Newmarket and with 51 and half on her back, with her going well, we couldn’t see how they could beat her.
“Now she can head straight to the T.J. Smith in three weeks and be, not only a competitive chance, but a big force in that feature.”
After bringing up his second Group 1 of his career, Dean Holland didn’t forget to touch on the fact that Jamie Kah falling earlier in the day, and he mentioned that in his post-race interview.
“First of all, the last thing I wanted to do was carry on today, win, lose or draw, it’s very unfortunate what happened to Jamie and Willow, and my thoughts go out to them,” Holland said.
“I was just lucky enough to pick the ride up on one of Australia’s best sprinters.
“She has had a tendency to be a bit slow away this prep and he (Cummings) said if she does just leave her alone and trust that she’s got a good turn of foot and I rode her accordingly and she was too good.”
In Secret is now the favourite at $3.60 in the T.J. Smith Stakes futures market with online betting sites.
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