Here To Shock bursts through for strong Golden Mile win
After a brilliant rails hugging ride by Daniel Stackhouse, Here To Shock has taken out the Listed Golden Mile holding on to beat the fast-finishing Laure Me In and Prince Of Helena, giving the Ben & JD Hayes stable a race-to-race interstate double after Mr Brightside took out the Group 1 Doncaster Mile at Randwick.
After jumping from barrier two, Stackhouse let the son of Shocking balance up and find his feet in the first 300m, which left him three horses back on the rail and with little room as the field rounded the home turn.
However, Stackhouse didn’t get too flustered by the little room, as he waited for the run to appear inside of horses and when the run appeared on the rail he took it, and Here To Shock flew though to put up a winning margin with 150m to go.
Munahmek and Just Folk, who were the other favoured runners in the market, were nowhere to be seen in the final 300m, as they faded back through the pack.
2023 Golden Mile Replay – Here To Shock
With the Hayes boys up in Sydney, Dom Rhoden spoke on behalf of the stable after their win in the Golden Mile.
“It’s been a big half-an-hour and we couldn’t be happier,” Rhoden said of the stables wins in both the Doncaster and Golden Mile.
“It’s a great thrill for the whole team, back at the farm and at Flemington.
“He was just a touch slow out, which wasn’t ideal, but Stacky got him into a great spot and got the luck when we needed it.
“It was centimetre perfect by Stacky.
“He gets his rating up now with a Stakes win and we could possibly look at a few of those handicap races in spring.”
Daniel Stackhouse brought up a riding double on Golden Mile Day with his win in the feature race of the day, and he spoke post-race.
“That was the plan, just to make sure he ran out the mile,” Stackhouse said.
“I was just hoping Rambler Rebel bowled along at a bit quicker tempo, but we just had to use that horse as a bunny just to get him to switch off.
“He got a lot of pressure to his outside, so it actually worked out in our favour.
“I just had my heart in my mouth and had to take my medicine on the corner.
“This horse has picked up from a stop-start (run) and won very convincingly.
“He’s done a fantastic job and it’s good to win for a good group of owners.
“He’s got some nice races in store for him, he’s just got to keep raising the bar.”