Our Anchorage ($3.00) has strung together his fourth straight win of the preparation, grinding his way to victory in the Group 3 Parramatta Cup (1900m) at Rosehill on Saturday afternoon.
It was a big step up in grade for the son of Galileo after claiming a dominant win in a competitive BM78 at Rosehill, offset by only 53kg on his back tackling stakes level for the first time.
Ashley Morgan took luck out of the equation aboard the airborne six-year-old, pressing forward to sit outside of Redstone Well ($8.50) throughout the journey as the pair ticked over some modest sectionals in the middle stages.
Palmetto ($9.50) slid across to find the one-one under Tim Clark, while the Chris Waller-trained pair of Asterix ($11.00) and Kinesiology ($8.00) got into a lovely rhythm mid-field with cover throughout the journey.
Morgan was quick to pull the whip turning for home, and pinched a break at the top of the straight as he played a game of ‘catch me if you can’ with some key rivals, as Palmetto loomed as the only danger in the final furlong.
The Bjorn Baker-trained gelding was simply too strong late, however, as Palmetto, Kinesiology and Foujita San ($14.00) would fight out a blanket finish for the minors.
Baker was on course to discuss the win and what’s next for Our Anchorage.
“He’s been remarkable,” said Baker.
“There’s a big team behind this, firstly Darby are sourcing such good horses and my team at home are doing a great job. Luke’s being particularly important in finding out how to get the best out of this guy and I thought it was a great ride by Ash Morgan.
“He’s a smooth rider, he’s a big time rider, his second win today and he’s going to cement himself at home in Sydney city.
“You just keep believing and hoping and we’ll just see where we end up. He is nominated for the Sydney Cup and I think over a bit further he might be better again.”
Ashley Morgan was elated with the win and spoke to riding in metro company against the best in NSW.
“It’s working out well,” said Morgan.
“We’ve put in a lot of hard work for the last four or five years to try and get these opportunities and it’s usually in the off-season in the winter. We knock off a few winners and then we disappear back after that.
“But I feel like this time I’m really getting a good run on. I feel like I’m riding well, I’m getting great support off trainers like Bjorn (Baker), Ciaron (Maher) and Nathan (Doyle), so just making most of these opportunities while I can.”
Our Anchorage is now a $26.00 chance with Dabble for the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) on April 12.
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