Morton’s Fork justifies hype with Sandown Guineas win
THE hype was well and truly justified with Morton’s Fork when the three-year-old produced a stellar victory in the Group 2 Sandown Guineas.
The John O’Shea-trained colt came to Melbourne after back-to-back wins in Sydney, but not all went right throughout the preparation.
It had no luck in the Gothic Stakes behind Peacock before battling well for second in the Carbine Club, and despite not everything going right during the run, it pulled out all the stops.
With in-form jockey Craig Williams in the saddle, the son of Ad Valorem was given time to find its feet over the 1600m, but due to a lack of pace in the race, Williams was forced to make a move around the home turn and the quality colt stretched out nicely for the narrow win over Ruthven.
“He didn’t have any favours in the run,” Williams said. “What I loved about him, he laid his ears back, a bit Dunaden-esque about it.
“He’s got big shoes to fill to get there, but he wanted to win.”
Williams was unable to get a drag into the race, but the good looking Morton’s Fork, which drifted out to $2.50 at WilliamHill.com.au, was strong down the Sandown straight.
“I had a willing companion in Morton’s Fork,” Williams said. “He was great. He had to go back to last, I really didn’t want to give him too much to do down the hill. I really asked him to extend and every time I urged him he lengthened.
“He’s a really nice horse and I’m looking forward to seeing what they do with him in the autumn.”
Assistant trainer David Charles was on track and he believes the three-year-old has plenty of upside moving forward.
“He’s a very honest horse, his form suggests that and he knows that heading to the line and he proved that today,” Charles said.
“John’s had a real good opinion of him. He was unlucky at Caulfield and he ran super at Flemington.
“We were expecting him to run well today and he delivered.”
Charles hasn’t pinned any further targets for the colt, but it could head over more ground in the autumn.
“He’s a very exciting horse for us, his form says that – he knows where the winning post is and that’s a good attribute to have with any sort of horse,” Charles said.
“His racing style proved he might get a little bit further, but we’re very happy to win a mile Sandown Guineas today.”