Enriched shows his class in Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint
Michael Freedman and the connections of Enriched (+340) would have been one of very few that were happy to see Autumn Glow scratched from the Group 2 Arrowfield 3YO Sprint on Saturday morning, and they are much happier now that their colt has done the job later in the afternoon.
The son of I Am Invincible finished a game second behind Autumn Glow last start, and following her scratching in the morning, he was installed as the race favourite with horse racing bookmakers before drifting slightly before the start of the 1200m contest.
As expected, Imperial Force (+450) found the front ahead of Enriched, and they set a slow tempo, which didn’t suit the heavily backed favourite, Big Swinger (+200), who settled last for most of the race.
The leader lifted the tempo at the 500m mark, but Tommy Berry hadn’t flinched on the eventual winner, and they idled up to Imperial Force at the 300m mark.
Even though they settled down to fight out the finish, it was clear that Enriched had more to offer than the slowing leader, and with Berry throwing everything at Enriched, he took over in the final 100m.
Enriched lengthened nicely in the final 50m to claim victory by a long neck over Imperial Force and Public Attention (+450), who grabbed third in a bunched finish behind the top two.
Michael Freedman spoke about the victory post-race.
“Yeah, look, obviously coming into today, we were sort of wondering whether we were going to have enough improvement in us to beat the filly, so when she got scratched this morning, it opened the race up quite a bit,” Freedman said.
“Tommy and I had a good chat this morning about being positive from the gate, sitting either leader’s girth, which is what he ended up doing, or even I wouldn’t have been opposed to him leading.
“Good turn of foot that colt, he’s a high-class horse, very well bred, so who knows, maybe he’s got a future at stud somewhere.
“Yeah, I’m probably being a bit biased saying it, but I think it does.
“It’s one of those races that there’s been some very good colts win it in the past that have gone to stud.
“Terrific result, there’s such a great bunch of owners.”
Tommy Berry was complimentary of the winner after the race.
“He’s got that brilliant speed, and you can use that and ask him, knowing that as soon as you put the bit in his mouth, he just comes back to you and relaxes so well,” Berry said.
“So after a furlong, we had one cheap sectional, and I thought he just can’t get beat.
“It made it a bit easier with the filly being out today, but he would have given her a run for her money and might not have beaten her, she’s pretty special, but he’s a good colt; he’s very well-bred, so that will go a long way.”
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