Gold Salute has put himself back on track for the Group One spring features with a strong win at Caulfield on Sunday.The six-year-old was one of the top fancies for the Group One Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 19 but was declared a non-runner after he got a leg tanged up in the barrier stalls and was left stranded when the field jumped away.Although he was an alarming drifter in the betting ring from $3.80 to $6 in the Zambari Hcp (1440m) at Caulfield, trainer Mark Riley
Gold Salute has put himself back on track for the Group One spring features with a strong win at Caulfield on Sunday.
The six-year-old was one of the top fancies for the Group One Rupert Clarke Stakes (1400m) at Caulfield on September 19 but was declared a non-runner after he got a leg tanged up in the barrier stalls and was left stranded when the field jumped away.
Although he was an alarming drifter in the betting ring from $3.80 to $6 in the Zambari Hcp (1440m) at Caulfield, trainer Mark Riley was not perturbed and sent his wife in to back the gelding.
Despite having to carry 59.5kg on the slow going, Gold Salute's class shone through when jockey Mark Pegus got him to the outside in the straight and he went on to score by three-quarters of a length from Davcon with Jungle Ruler a long neck away third.
"I couldn't believe the price this horse was in a race like this," Riley said.
"He's back on track for the Toorak and the Emirates. Unfortunately things happen but it might be for a reason."
The Pat Hyland-trained Jolie Brise is most likely to have a crack at the Group One Thousand Guineas (1600m) on October 14 after she notched a hat-trick of wins in the Arborea Hcp (1440m).
The Fastnet Rock filly, backed from $5.50 to start at $4.80, scored a 2-1/4 length win over another Thousand Guineas prospect My Emotion ($4.20 fav) in a race Hyland won two years ago with subsequent dual Group One winner Zarita.
Zarita had a luckless run in the 2007 Guineas when sixth to Serious Speed before winning the Wakeful Stakes (2000m) at Flemington at her next start and finishing eighth in the VRC Oaks (2500m).
However Hyland likened the filly to another top filly he prepared in dual Group One winner Saleous, the 1995 VRC Oaks (2500m) and 1996 STC Ansett Australia Stakes winner.
"She's very much like Saleous in her mannerisms and the way she races," said Hyland who facies Jolie Brise as an Oaks filly too.
Jolie Brise gave apprentice Nathan Rose the first leg of his inaugural metropolitan double.
He later guided Uncle Ivan ($21) to victory in the Sudurka Hcp (1000m) for Warrnambool trainer Patrick McKenna.
Fellow Warrnambool trainer Jarrod McLean said he would discuss with the owners a start in the $1 million Caulfield Guineas (1600m) on October 10 for Nicastro who was backed from $3.20 to $2.70 favouritism before scoring a gutsy win in the Lord Dudley Hcp (1440m).
Ridden by Dwayne Dunn, Nicastro fought on doggedly to defeat Russian Heart despite having a torrid run in the race.
Dunn said the gelding would find it tough to beat the likes of classy three-year-olds Denman, Trusting and So You Think but could possibly finish in the top six.