Comin’ Through bursts into Guineas calculations after Carbine win
PEDIGREE means plenty in horse racing and that was evident when Comin’ Through won the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes at Flemington on Saturday.
The half-brother to Criterion was a well-backed commodity during the week and punters were right to have confidence in the colt which loomed up to Godolphin stablemates Morton’s Fork and Bezel in the straight.
Winning jockey Michael Walker continued his association with owner Sir Owen Glenn, who Walker rode Criterion for, and he thinks the three-year-old has an exciting future.
“Very big future. Anything he’s doing now is just a bonus with what he’s got to come,” Walker said. “You have to look at him, he could go around again, he could have won by more.
“He’s a half-brother to my old favourite Criterion. He did it easy and he was pulling up in the straight.
“A lot of credit to Chris Waller and his team, whether it be in Sydney or Melbourne, they’ve done a tremendous job with this horse.”
Chris Waller gave Comin’ Through a similar preparation to one-time Cox Plate favourite Kermadec and the similarities were there to see at Flemington.
The son of Fastnet Rock paid $6 with Sportsbet after touching $5 earlier in the week and Waller will likely have a Randwick Guineas runner on his hands.
“He’s following the exact same path (as Kermadec) at this stage,” Waller said. “They have to keep improving to get to the Group one level, he’s still quite raw.
“He’s got a lot of maturity still to come, that suggests he could be a Guineas horse in the autumn. I look forward to plotting a path towards that.”
Waller was thrilled to get his Melbourne Cup carnival campaign off to a winning start.
“You can see the smile on my face already,” Waller said. “Always takes the pressure off to start the carnival like this in a big way. It doesn’t get any bigger than this week.
“For the spring it’s a great time to have nice horses for a lot of good owners. (For) the punters and public that will be here today, it’s fantastic.”
Godolphin pair Morton’s Fork and Bezel were gallant in defeat. Both fought tenaciously over the last 100m as the three placegetters were tightened for room.