Esteban stamps authority at Rosehill
ESTEBAN put away any doubts that it’s a serious spring horse by winning the Schweppes Rating 82 Handicap at Rosehill by a lengthy margin.
The John Sargent-trained three-year-old sat on the speed with Rory Hutchings in the saddle, and in the blink of an eye it put four lengths on its rival around the home turn. The exciting stayer extended the margin in the run to the line and its fans are already comparing it to Might And Power.
Sargent hasn’t been tempted by the upcoming spring and will instead save it for the autumn, but was none-the-less pleased with the result.
“It’s very pleasing and this was his biggest test so far,” Sargent said.
“He’s going through his grades and this was still a benchmark 82 race.
“This win will put his rating up into the 80’s now and we might give him one more this time or just give him a break.
“He won’t be racing through the spring. He will be an autumn horse.”
Esteban has now made it four consecutive victories which started with a class 1 win at Newcastle before rising to class 2 and then benchmark 73 grade last start where it destroyed the field by 6.8 lengths.
Despite the run of form, Esteban was a noted drifter in the market. It settle at $1.60 throughout the week, but drifted notably to $2.10 at Sportsbet prior to the running. Punters which waited patiently were able to secure the value price for the Encosta de Lago gelding which has an exciting future.
“He has such a high-cruising speed, which is nice to see,” Sargent said.
“He’s not just a one-paced grinding stayer and he is exciting going ahead.”