Fawkner Park cruises to victory in Q22
Tyler Schiller and Annabel Neasham have combined with Fawkner Park ($4.00) proving far too strong in the Group 2 Q22 (2200m) at Eagle Farm on Saturday afternoon, turning the tables on stable companion Bois D’Argent ($15.00) after a luckless performance in the Group 1 Doomben Cup (2000m) on May 25.
It was all too easy for the son of Zoffany, as Tyler Schiller lobbed into the perfect position mid-field with cover throughout the 2200m journey, allowing the progressive five-year-old to cruise through his gears heading into the final 400m.
Adelaide River ($5.50) had been well-backed with online bookmakers prior to the jump as James McDonald attempted to add a fifth win to his massive day, however, the European never seemed to travel when asked for the ultimate effort when leading at the final bend.
It left Bois D’Argent gaining the lead momentarily, while Knight’s Choice ($101.00) managed to power into a runner-up finish; however, they were simply playing for minor money as Fawkner Park launched down the centre of the course to claim a dominant 3.75-length win in the Eagle Farm finale.
2024 Q22 Replay – Fawkner Park
Annabel Neasham was delighted with the win and praised all her runners for a testing preparation before suggesting a Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) tilt might be on the tables for Fawkner Park in the spring.
“I love them all (her horses) but I particularly love this horse now,” said Neasham.
“It was an impressive win. It was a funny race. I was trying to watch all of them where they were and there was a lot of shuffling around going on midrace.
“You could see Tyler (Schiller) biding his time where he was and once he got on the back of the right horse and popped out at the top of the straight, it was an easy watch.
“He’s a lightly raced horse and it is great fun to have this horse with Bennett Racing because they’ve given us a fair few horses and it is nice to repay them with a big winner. He’s a very exciting horse and we see the key to him with the right jockey.
“He’s got a big heart, he’s got a good stride, he goes on soft, goes on firm and I think we should have a big spring to look forward to.
“You’d imagine the Caulfield Cup might be a really nice race for him and then we’ll see.”
Tyler Schiller echoed similar thoughts to the rise of Fawkner Park in such a short space of time.
“He just keeps improving,” said Schiller.
“The confidence that he’s grown from when I first rode him at Albury in the Cup, it isn’t an overly strong race there and I thought he had done a good job to knock another race off in his career – a listed race.
“For him to come up to these levels and keep improving, he arguably should have won a group one last start and to see him do that today he’s an exciting horse going forward.”