Godolphin has continued their excellent record in the Group 2 Run To The Rose (1200m) at Rosehill on Saturday afternoon, with Traffic Warden ($9.00) making it a hat-trick of wins across the last three editions of the three-year-old feature.
Following in the footsteps of Cylinder (2023) and In Secret (2022), Traffic Warden was wound up and ready to go on the back of an impressive piece of work at Hawkesbury on August 26, and although the son of Street Boss was first-up, his class was able to offset the lengthy layoff.
Zac Lloyd elected to be patient aboard the progressive three-year-old, taking a sit slightly worse than mid-field throughout the journey.
It turned out to be the ideal scenario, with typical speedster and heavily-backed favourite Storm Boy ($1.90), missing the start and being forced to be roused along by Adam Hyeronimus in the middle stages.
It meant a strong tempo throughout, with fellow Coolmore galloper Switzerland ($10.00) pushed out towards an early lead, while Anode ($17.00) was ridden more conservatively than in the past.
When the whips were cracking with 400m left to travel, there was only one horse you wanted to be on, however, with Traffic Warden building the revs under Zac Lloyd, proving too classy despite being first-up with bigger fish to fry this time in.
2024 Group 2 Run To The Rose Replay – Traffic Warden
James Cummings was on course to discuss the win of his colt and suggested all options are on the table after the Golden Rose (1400m) in two weeks’ time.
“Yeah, he’s just come back perfectly and pretty exciting horse race to be a part of,” said Cummings.
“There’s $100 million worth of horse flesh walking around the enclosure here and big performances like that from Traffic Warden.
“Another week goes past. Another big performance from a son of Street Boss. You know, he’s run the numbers on Street Boss. He’s going pretty good. And Traffic Warden is really asserting himself now, having just done that this afternoon, as a very serious colt for the spring.
“It’s obviously like not everything went ideal for other horses in the race, admittedly, but he savaged the line. You didn’t see the best of him last prep.
“it’s very, very straightforward from here. His assignment should be the Golden Rose in two weeks. Gives him a group one opportunity. He had the race absolutely shot to pieces in the AJC Sires in the Autumn and only just got rolled on that wet track.
“But I think he’s a better horse now and he will certainly be taking some beating in the Golden Rose. If it’s not for his stable mate, Broadsiding, he’s certainly going to arrive there a fit horse, second up and ready to fire.”
Zac Lloyd was impressed with the victory and praised team Godolphin for the opportunity.
“That’s a top-notch feeling,” said Lloyd.
“That was incredible, to ride a colt for the team who they obviously value very highly, to get the trust in a lead-up race to the Golden Rose to get the job done, it’s a massive credit to the team and I’m very happy to get the job done.”
Traffic Warden is now on the third line of betting at $5.00 with horse racing bookmakers for the Group 1 Golden Rose (1400m) on September 28.
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