El Morzillo finishes off strongly to claim Inglis Sprint
Kelly Schweida and Craig Williams have combined with El Morzillo to take out the $1 million Inglis Sprint (1200m), with the Queensland-trained mare finishing with a blistering turn of foot to claim victory at Flemington.
The daughter of Star Witness drifted with Picklebet from +380 to +500 in betting markets, with plenty of money coming in for race favourites Reserve Bank (+300) and Scintilla (+400).
With a full field of 18 runners competing down the Flemington straight, they were stretched across the track, with Certain Rise (+550), Reserve Bank and Odinson (+1000) settling at the front of the field.
As the field hit the course proper at the 500m mark, Certain Rise and Scintilla (+400) took the front and gave a good kick, while Williams, on the eventual winner, was starting to weave a passage between runners from the back of the field.
Once El Morzillo let down with a withering burst of speed, it wasn’t long before she took over and sprinted clear of her rivals to defeat Daggers (+750) and Hot Diggity Boom (+7000).
Kelly Schweida was on course to speak about the victory.
“Million-dollar race. So I don’t mind it (not black type), but I’m really, really pleased for the owners,” Schweida said.
“Been a long time friend of Craig’s, and we sort of had this race in target for a long time now. We thought the 1200 straight would suit her, because she’s a back marker and always seems to run into a bit of trouble.
“Really pleased. I’d like to thank all my staff, my strapper Donna, everyone’s done a great job.
“And Inglis, a mate of mine helped pick this filly out. So they’ve really looked after us, Inglis, it’s really well done.
“You would think something like a Tatts Tiara (would be her next target).
“We’ll look after her, we really targeted this race.
“So a lot of the other races have been a little bit of catch-up.
“Nice races, but we’ll probably take her home slowly and give her a little ease up and probably get her ready for the Carnival and maybe the Tatts Tiara or some of the other races.”
Craig Williams echoed similar thoughts to Schweida in his post-race interview.
“She’s nearly all but been a black type winner, I think she’s got that, she always had that ability in the making but she’s still a work in progress,” Williams said.
“She does so much wrong, but credit to Kellie, her trainer and being able to bring her up first up 1200 meters down the straight, traveling her, and I guess these Inglis these breeders big money races brings our horses today.
“We saw horses from I think three different states or four different states, so it just shows you, put the right money on, have the right horses, and today’s a beautiful day here at headquarters.
“We’ve got great crowds and great horse racing.”
Comments are closed.