Longchamp goes back-to-back in Opunake Cup
LONGCHAMP made it consecutive victories in the $65,000 Opunake Cup at New Plymouth on Sunday and it didn’t come easy for the five-year-old.
The Andrew Campbell-trained son of Tavistock was planted three-wide on the speed over the 1400m distance, but it fought gamely to the line in holding off the fast finishing Nashville, which returned to its best form and could have won with some luck.
The win was a long time coming for Longchamp, which hadn’t won since taking out the 2016 Opunake Cup and punters were keeping it in their sights as a $4.80 elect at Ladbrokes.com.au.
“He’s just so brave this horse, I’m so proud of him,” Campbell said. “All the issues he’s got…it’s just an amazing result.”
Campbell expressed his desire to take Longchamp to the Group 1 Tarzino Trophy at Hastings in the spring and that remains the plan following its tough win on Sunday.
“We’ll be carrying on forward now to the group one and hopefully we get some cut out of the track,” he said.
“He’s got the ability, but he’s got problems.”
The heavy track at New Plymouth was ideal for Longchamp which hadn’t finished outside the first three in seven attempts on a heavy track prior, but Campbell believes it would be better on firm ground had its injury troubles not arisen.
“He’s probably better on top of the ground, but it’s after the race we pay for it,” Campbell said.
“If we get a bit of cut out of the track in the group one, I reckon he’s a real good chance.
“He’s got the heart the size of a lion.”
Winning jockey Johnathan Parkes wasn’t overly worried about sitting wide on the turn as it allowed Longchamp to gather momentum at the right time.
“I always planned to ride him up on the speed, but the inside horses kept kicking up,” Parkes said. “I still wanted to be there so I could pounce on the turn.”
Longchamp hit the lead at the top of the straight and looked susceptible over the concluding stages, but ultimately proved too tough for its rivals.
“He’s got there (the lead) too easily. He just wanted to wait for them, but he’s got the job done well,” Parkes said.
“He’s won well and he’s a good horse to do it two years in a row.”
The unlucky runner in the race was multiple group one winner Nashville, which stormed home to only narrowly taste defeat. A better ride from apprentice jockey Kate Cowan may have seen a different result, but the rising nine-year-old showed it can still mix it with the best in New Zealand.
Nashville paid $8.90 to place and is still paying $41 with Sportsbet.com.au for the Winter Cup on August 5 despite firming into $12 with local New Zealand bookmakers.
New York Minute had the gun run just in behind the speed and battled on well for third.