Anthony & Sam Freedman combined with Mark Zahra to take out the Group 3 Zeditave Stakes with Tropicus (+240), who never saw another horse back after leading every step of the way over 1200m at Caulfield.
Zahra took luck out of the equation after his mount jumped well from the barriers, pushing forward to take up the lead on the son of Too Darn Hot, with Parliamentary (+2500) and Interest Point (+6000) settling behind the pacesetter.
With very little changing through the first half of the contest, Craig Williams got going on Lofty Arch (+300) from the back of the field to get into the race.
As the leader and race favourite with Picklebet turned into the home straight, he held a good margin over his rivals before giving a strong kick at the 300m mark.
Lofty Arch chased gamely down the middle of the track but peaked on his run with 100m to go, while Sargeant Major (+750) flashed home on the inside of runners.
But all honours went to Tropicus, who fought off all challengers to claim a 1.5-length win over Lofty Arch and the fast-finishing Sergeant Major.
Sam Freedman represented the winning stable in the post-race interview.
“Excellent win. Everyone bangs on about the wind but we’ve had two horses lead into it and it is still the shortest way home,” Freedman said.
“He began well and Mark got him into a good rhythm. I think that was the main thing, getting him to relax and getting into a rhythm with the blinkers on.
“He was a bit keen, a bit fresh first up.
“We stretched him out to the mile and he was keen in a slowly run Guineas.
“You’re always learning and the spring is hard because you’ve got to make a decision which way you go.
“We made the decision to go to the Golden Rose and the Guineas, but he’ll stick to the six furlongs this time around.
“He’s even sharper. He could potentially go 1100m. He was awesome – it was a great result.”
When asked what was next for Tropicus, Freedman said the Group 1 Goodwood could be on the cards.
“We’ll chat with Luke and Shane and the team at Kia-ora and work it out from here,” he said.
“There’s a race like the Goodwood over there in Adelaide.”
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