Bush trip helps boost Santa Ana Lane
A trip to the bush has helped Santa Ana Lane join some elite company with his third Group One win of the season in the $1.5 million Stradbroke Handicap.
He joined stablemate Shoals, Trapeze Artist and Happy Clapper as horses to win three Group One races in Australia this season.
It puts them in joint second place behind super-mare Winx, who has won six.
But Santa Ana Lane has not always been rated among the best gallopers in the land and his previous visit to Queensland resulted in a 12th in the 2016 Gold Coast Guineas.
Trainer Anthony Freedman is sure a trip to Wagga Wagga for the Town Plate in May last year was the turning point.
“He got a confidence win and since then he has just kept getting better,” Freedman said.
Since the Town Plate run, Santa Ana Lane has won the Group One Rupert Clarke Stakes at Caulfield and the Group One Goodwood Handicap in Adelaide as well as the Stradbroke.