MORE than 50 excited owners stormed the parade ring at Caulfield on Saturday to celebrate their win in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate with England-bound colt Starspangledbanner.
The Leon Corstens-trained three-year-old, sold recently to Coolmore for a reported $10 million, will have his farewell Australian start in the G1 Newmarket Handicap at Flemington before heading overseas to be trained by Aidan O’Brien.
Ridden by controversial jockey, Danny Nikolic, Starspangledbanner, $7, just lasted to beat the dead-heaters, Here De Angels, $6 and Arinos, $51.“I thought he had won but I didn't want to be get overly confident because they kept charging at him and he started to stagger a little bit,” Nikolic said. “It was a great effort because there is definitely improvement in the horse.”
Starspangledbanner has now won two Group 1 races after, the previous being the Caulfield Guineas last spring. He emulated Weekend Hussler's feat of winning the Guineas-Oakleigh Plate double in 2007-08.
Weekend Hussler, whose comeback ended in disappointment when 11th in the race, pulled up injured and his racing career may be over.
The current owners of Starspangledbanner retain the prizemoney from the Oakleigh Plate as well as anything the colt earns in the Newmarket before he is officially transferred to Coolmore.
Troy Corstens, representing the stable, predicted Starspangledbanner could end his Australian racing career with a win in the Newmarket.
Michael Rodd thought he had won on runner-up Here De Angels and admitted after the race he
Punters sent out Lucky Secret as the $5 favourite but was never a winning chance, settling well off the speed before finishing eighth.
Stewards reported that the $5 favorite Lucky Secret pulled up lame. The Peter Moody-trained Avenue also pulled up sore.
IN THE OTHER HIGHLIGHT OF THE DAY, the Danny O’Brien trained Star Witness stormed home to win the $1 million G1 Blue Diamond Stakes.
Jockey Nick Hall brought Star Witness, $10, with a well-timed run to collar the David Hayes-trained Shaaheq, $11, near home. The heavily-backed favorite, Beneteau, $3.2, ran a game third.
Star Witness, a son of Starcraft, has not been entered for the Golden Slipper and O’Brien said might contest the Sires before going for a spell and then being prepared for the Spring.
“Not much went right,” O’Brien said. “He sort of wobbled on the corner and was last when they straightened but I’ve got a lot of confidence in this colt.
“He does things only really top class horses can do. Even when he was so far off them, I knew what sort of sectional he was capable of running.”
Apprentice Daniel Ganderton said described the Blue Diamond as ‘a really rough race’ and said he was forced to steer a wide path on Beneteau to avoid interference.
“I didn’t want to take him in behind horses which were going to find trouble,” Ganderton said. “He ended up getting a bit of a buffeting but he ran home really well. Hopefully he pulls up well and he goes to the Slipper. He’ll learn a lot from that.”
Hall described Star Witness as a potential star. “He’s a great horse. Even when he wobbled around the home turn I wasn’t worried. He was always going to chase hard when he got balanced.”
Danny Nikolic felt he might have gone a bit early on runner-up Shaaheq.
