Post Impressionist (+270) has shown an explosive turn of foot to round up her rivals in the matter of 100m to claim the Group 3 N E Manion Cup at Rosehill Gardens, giving his trainer William Haggas his third win in the race in five years.
The son of Teofilo was first-up off a six-month break but you wouldn’t have known as Tom Marquand took his gelding to the back of the field and finished off stronger than any of his rivals in the final 300m.
Canberra Legend (+650) made sure the gallop was strong, as he pushed forward after being caught wide early to lead the race from Redstone Well (+750), with Almania (+380) and So United (+700) settling in behind the speed.
However, as the sprint went on before the home turn, the leaders began to paddle and the runs came from the back of the field as Torrens (+1000), Manzioce (+1300) and Post Impressionist swooped down the middle of the track.
By the 200m mark, the race was over, as Post Impressionist flew home down the outside and careered away with an arrogant 3.3 length victory over Manzioce and Almania.
2024 N E Manion Cup Replay – Post Impressionist
Part-owner Nick Williams spoke about the win of Post Impressionist and how they got involved in the European stayer.
“I have to be honest, I had nothing to do with him at all. Dad (Lloyd) has been friendly with William Haggas for a long time,” Williams said of Post Impressionist.
“The horse, he saw him win and he spoke to William about it and subsequently bought the horse after his last start in Europe, which he won in a pretty similar fashion.
“They’ve done a terrific job with him getting him here and we’ll see how he pulls up and see if he can go on with it.
“I guess so. You’d have to think about the Tancred (Stakes) , you’d have to think about the Sydney Cup.
“We’ll let William decide. He’s had a lot of success out here and (travelling foreperson) Issy (Paul) and he do a terrific job with the horses they bring out here, we’ve seen that over a number of years so all credit to them.”
After riding the horse at its last start at Haydock, Tom Marquand was very pleased that he could stay with the winner on debut in Australia.
“We’ve seen it in England at Haydock, but that was over ‘a mile and six’ (2800m) and whilst it was a turn of foot, you probably wouldn’t have called it in Australian terms,” Marquand said.
“He spelled great and in quarantine.
“William knows how to get the right horses, he was well-acquired by the Williamses and Issy’s (Paul) has done a fantastic job just guiding another horse through.
“I’d love to be on him at two miles, sadly I’m a little bit too heavy, but it’s exciting for the team.
“There are so many things that go into it and I might not be aboard him (in the Sydney Cup) but I’ll be cheering him around, so I’m looking forward to seeing what he’s going to do.”
Post Impressionist is now a +220 favourite in Sydney Cup futures markets with online bookmakers.
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