Is It Me storms clear in Shaftesbury Avenue Handicap
Is It Me has recorded his first straight win at the Flemington 1400m by giving his rivals a galloping lesson in the Group 3 Staftesbury Avenue Handicap (1400m).
The Daniel Bowman-trained gelding was sent out as a heavily-backed favourite with Dabble, shortening from +170 into +150 in the final minutes before jump time.
The other well-backed commodity and likely leader, Fancify (+800), found the front ahead of Ayrton (+150), and they ran the race along at a good tempo throughout.
Klabel (+2000) settled behind the leading duo, while the eventual winner was well back and searching for runs as the field turned for home.
With most of the speed influence struggling to find at the 300m mark, Billy Egan pushed his mount through the field and weaved a passage underneath Fancify to burst through and take over by the 200m pole.
Once Egan asked for the complete effort from Is It Me, he stromed clear and ran away with the race to win by 3.75 lengths over Klabel and Lady Jones (+1100).
Daniel Bowman was very happy to see Is It Me breakthrough at Group 3 level, and he spoke post-race.
“It all worked out. Three or four weeks between runs. Nice, big track. Billy Egan was positive. He said before the race what he’d do and that is how it panned out. He said it might look a bit ugly early but to bear with him,” Bowman said.
“The horse was very immature mentally and it has taken time to work out his craft.
“It really has been a blessing to link up with Billy.
“We just needed a bit of luck and the horse is in a good vein of form. The staff are doing a great job with his trackwork.
“I’ve got to say that this is a tough caper. I’ve won a Group 1 race but it has been a while since I have had a good one but you have to catch and kill your own.”
Billy Egan echoed similar thoughts to Bowman in his interview.
“Credit to Dan. He’s got him in form and he knows him really well,” Egan said.
“He doesn’t need to tighten the screws any more. He’s got him in such a good racing zone.
“His win on a soft track was good but when he gets on firmer ground, he is really effective.
“I thought as he is a big horse that he’d be surrounded by a lot of gallopers.
“Rather than trying to get in a bumping duel trying to come out, I thought we’d keep sucking it up.
“It might have been messy if we didn’t get through but I was confident.”
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