After being denied victory in last year’s Richard Bright Memorial (1500m) in the final bounds, Monza was back to go one better and the Danica Guy-trained gelding did just that at Cambridge Synthetic on Wednesday.
Monza was among several synthetic specialists contesting the race, with each of his five previous victories coming on the surface in nine attempts.
An uncharacteristic last-placed run in early July placed Monza over the odds in the $100,000 1400m race at Awapuni Synthetic last Friday, where he finished third to Branciforti, giving Guy plenty of confidence ahead of the feature event which remembers the life of Bright, who tragically passed away two years ago.
Monza remained slightly underrated in the market closing at $11.20 with horse racing bookmakers, while Foote stablemates Keegan and Ultimate Focus sat on top at $3.10 and $4.50 respectively.
As anticipated, Monza flew the barriers and was allowed to slide into the lead under apprentice Maria Sanson, who decreased his lofty 61kg impost by three kilograms. The seven-year-old wasn’t left completely alone in the lead with Stunning Maire sitting in close quarters along the back stretch, but he took the field into the home straight and was never headed, holding off a game finish by Spanish Lad by a long head.
Guy, who co-bred and part-owns Monza, was delighted to pick up the lion’s share of the $60,000 stake on offer after coming so close 12 months ago.
“He pulled up super from the run the other day and I think that really brought him on,” she said.
“This trip is definitely more up his street, so I was pretty confident coming in. He’s been running second on the turf at mile races and opens, so the form was there.
“They got a man up with him in the gates (two starts back), and if you do that, he won’t jump and he went up in the air. He was fresh-up off a long spell, he’d been coming off an injury, so I just put a line through that.
“It’s lovely for him to pick up a nice stake at this track because he deserves it.
“We’ll look to get him down there for first day at Hawke’s Bay, there’s an open mile and he ran second in that last year, so I’d like to go one better in that too.”
Sanson had previously been apprenticed to Guy and had a long-term association with the horse, having guided him to his maiden success in August 2021.
“It was really good to get the win on him today, I ran second in this race last year. He’s a synthetic specialist so it was good to pick this up,” Sanson said.
“I was travelling beautifully out in front, I was in two minds whether to take a sit just outside the leader or just keep rolling, and I’m glad I kept rolling to the front.
“He’s just such a pro out here on the synthetic, I think that’s his sixth win here and it’s a shame we don’t have more open handicaps on the poly because now he’s just weighted out of them.
“He’s not even trained here in Cambridge, but he just seems to get the results.
“I was apprenticed to Danica for twelve months so I’ve been around this horse for a long time, it was actually my first win here on the poly over 970 when he broke his maiden.”
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