The European raider Lake Forest ($18.00) has come with a withering burst to claim victory in the $10 million Golden Eagle (1500m) at Rosehill on Saturday afternoon, with William Haggas and Cieren Fallon combining to secure victory for the UK.
The Northern Hemisphere three-year-old come through some quality form heading into Saturday, but was relatively unwanted in the market, starting at a good each-way price with the top Australian bookmakers.
It was race full of hard-luck stories, as fellow European contender Lazzat ($4.80) led them out at a strong clip throughout, while the team Hawkes-trained Makarena ($51.00) continued to press on from a wide draw.
Well-supported favourite Ascoli Piceno ($3.20) didn’t have much luck from barrier 17, with Joao Moreira being cast wide throughout the journey, while the likes of Stefi Magnetica ($12.00) and Tom Kitten ($10.00) cut the corner looking for a run in the home straight.
Lazzat was second past the post, however, Stefi Magnetica copped a severe check in the concluding stages with Lazzat rolling significantly in the final furlong, resulting in a protest fifth v second.
2024 Golden Eagle Race Replay – Lake Forest (1st)
Stewards reviewed the footage and elected to dismiss the claim due to the margin between the pair.
There was no doubt about the winner, however, as Lake Forest produced a stunning turn-of-foot to secure victory in the $10 million Rosehill feature.
Stable representative Isabella Paul was on course to break down the victory and couldn’t hide her excitement.
“We knew he has an explosive turn of foot,” said Paul.
“If you watch some of his other races, he’s so fast towards the end. And Cieren (Fallon) has ridden that so beautifully, and that was the plan, sit back, let them all kill themselves in front and come through to finish. But a really brave ride from Ceiren. And Oh my God, how exciting.
“If you look at the way he runs, with that fast finish etc, that’s the way he goes. And he looked like he wasn’t necessarily crying out for the step up in trip but that it would suit and it was only kind of misfortune that he didn’t get that.
“Sydney is like a second home now, I hope we might get citizenship at some stage. No, it’s great to be back down here and it’s phenomenal to have another winner.”
Ceiren Fallon was elated with the win and put it amongst some of his career highlights as a jockey.
“Unbelievable. Wow, I can’t believe it. Lost for words,” said Fallon.
“Everything went to Plan A. Tuck in, we knew we had a lot of speed and had to save his turn of foot.
“I thought if we used too much energy early on we’d have been taking away our turn of foot. So I had to ride him quite brave and hope we got a bit of luck. And we got a few gaps up there. Obviously Stefano helped me get a few gaps there and, you know, what a horse.
“I had a lot of belief in him. In all of his races he’d been crying out for a bit further. I knew with the bend it would allow us to fill him up around the bend.
“It got a bit tight and I saved as much ground as I could up the inside and he showed his turn of foot towards the end and hit the line very strongly.
“This is remarkable. Money-wise, you can’t beat it. It’s definitely up there. Obviously my first time out here, to be able to be part of such a strong stable, obviously the boss has been sending horses out here for the last few years and they’ve been coming out on top. So I was very confident.
“But in terms of career, this probably would be up there.”
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