Alalcance grinds his way to victory in Randwick City Stakes
Tim Clark has claimed a race-to-race double for the Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott barn at Randwick on Saturday afternoon, with Alalcance ($2.80) grinding her way to victory in the Listed Randwick City Stakes (2000m).
The Mastercraftsman mare justified a wealth of support with horse racing bookmakers to secure the first-up victory, with Clark taking all luck out of the equation from the inside draw (1) to lead throughout the journey.
Almania () pressed forward to ensure a genuine tempo throughout the 2000m, while the Bjorn Baker-trained Our Anchorage ($3.80) was positioned beautifully to strike from the one-one when asked for the ultimate effort.
There were plenty of luckless runners in behind, with the likes of Zechariah () and Athabascan ($13.00) closing on heels at a crucial stage.
Meanwhile, the Mick Price & Michael Kent (Jnr)-trained Warmonger ($23.00) might be nearing a return to his best, hitting the line well to put some value into the exotics with Dabble.
Alalcance was simply too classy in the end of find the line best, giving the Waterhouse & Bott team their second win of the afternoon.
“Yeah, really proud of her on that occasion,” said Bott.
“She had to do a bit of work to try and hold that position from an inside draw and at the risk of getting cross. There was a fair bit of pressure there throughout, and to put the foot down early enough and kept a nice bowling gallop.
“To see her actually the last 50m start to pull away again when I thought she might have been vulnerable, especially first-up I thought it was really encouraging.
“Those European staying types of horses you can sort of get the grounding into them at home and it’s not as such a big task starting off over this sort of trip.
“It was a tough win though, so full credit to her and I think she should just improve as she gets over further.
“She’s on the Sydney Cup path.”
Alalcance is on the second line of betting at for the Group 1 Sydney Cup (3200m) on April 12.
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