Acatour wins drama-filled China Horse Club Carbine Club Stakes

Acatour
Acatour was able to deliver a tidy return for punters at Randwick on The Championships, Day 1. Picture: Bradley Photos.

THE Peter and Paul Snowdon-trained Acatour took out the second event on day one of the Championships in a race that was delayed due to an incident at the barriers.

One of the key elects in the market Mr Sneaky ($7 at Sportsbet.com.au at the time of the scratching) and outsider Screamarr ($19 at WilliamHill.com.au) were late scratchings after encountering trouble at the gates, leaving just seven runners in the field.

Veladero set a hot tempo at the beginning of the race, and the short-priced favourite Theanswermyfriend camped just off the speed and looked primed to speed past the leader and claim a comfortable victory.

It was Acatour that come from the back of the field to fly past the $1.90 favourite to record an impressive win and return $9 at Sportsbet.com.au.

Theanswermyfriend fought on admirably to claim second in a photo finish to return $1.04 via WilliamHill.com.au ahead of the early front-runner Veladero ($3.20 at Sportsbet.com.au).

Jockey Luke Nolan said the race favourite did not handle the heavy Randwick conditions.

“He probably struggled on that heavy track.” Nolan said.

“It is drying and it is quite puggy which sort of takes away his brilliance. He has run honest but he struggled over the concluding stages as a result of the track.”

Acatour overturned poor back-to-back runs to record a sensational win, and co-trainer Peter Snowdon believes the firmer track that was presented on day one of the Championships helped

“This is a much better track today to what it was last start,” Snowdown said.

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“Always been a talented horse so it’s been a frustrating for us not to see him kick a goal before this. Good to see him win as well as he did today.”

The win on Doncaster Mile Day gave Snowdon the opportunity to reflect on what might have been for the three-year-old, but the trainer believes 1600m is close to the ideal journey for the colt.

He’s definitely a talent. I honestly thought he was a Doncaster horse but the first couple of runs this time in poured cold water on that.

“We thought maybe he wants further but I think probably this might be his right trip – a mile to 1800m but it was good to see him win as well as he did today.”

The future may be in the sunshine state for Acatour.

Snowdon said the team will potentially target the Brisbane Winter Carnival as their next port of call for the talented prospect.

“There’s Brisbane to look forward to… (but it is) good to see him get back to good form and win as well as he did.”

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