Point Barrow ($18) won her first Group 1 in the Champions Sprint, while $1.70 favourite Tempted ran fifth and has been sent for a spell.
The Champions Sprint (1200m) was the shock of Saturday's racing at Flemington. Point Barrow, at $18, beat a field that included Everest winner Tempted, who started the $1.70 favourite.
All-mare finish
Mark Zahra didn't hurry the Anthony and Sam Freedman-trained four-year-old early and followed Tempted into the race. He didn't want to race too wide on the track, so he waited for a gap just inside. When it came, Point Barrow quickened sharply and won by a neck.
Mares filled the first three places:
- 1st: Point Barrow (Mark Zahra) $18
- 2nd: Plaintiff (Jordan Childs) $101
- 3rd: Skybird $31, a short half-head away
Plaintiff looked the winner for a stride or two inside the last 100 metres. Tempted loomed at the 300 metres but couldn't kick on and finished fifth.
It was Point Barrow's first Group 1 and her third win in a row, after two Group 3 wins at Caulfield. The daughter of Blue Point has now won 8 of her 13 starts. Sam Freedman said the stable had set her for this race from the start of her preparation. Zahra has now won the race three times, and this was his second in a row after Giga Kick last year.
Why Tempted was beaten
Tempted was chasing a sixth straight win and running for the first time down the Flemington straight. She was also auditioning for a possible overseas campaign next year. Chad Schofield felt she had left her best at Randwick.
The stewards' report offered a possible reason. A post-race scope found a degree of internal bleeding in the lungs, which may have affected her run. She needs a veterinary clearance before she can race or trial again. Trainer Ciaron Maher agreed with Schofield that she had come to the end of her preparation, and she is heading for a spell.
The punting angle
Tempted's run can be put aside, given the stewards' findings and a long spring that included her Everest win. Point Barrow is the one to follow. She is still improving, has the turn of foot for Flemington's straight, and is now a Group 1 winner going into the autumn.