Shoreham ends four year winning drought
EIGHT-YEAR-OLD gelding Shoreham has won for the first-time since rejoining the Saab Hasan race team after winning a benchmark 84 race at Caulfield on Saturday.
Jumping as a $14.40 outsider at Crownbet, the son of Reset never truly looked balanced coming into the latter stages of the race to deliver a stunning upset.
Guizot closed home late to return $2.20 for Sportsbet clients and Shenandoah ($2.90 at Ladbrokes) rounded out the placings.
The big disappointment of the race was the performance of short-priced favourite Mrs Gardenia.
The $2.20 favourite at Neds made a slow getaway from barrier six and was never in the contest, leaving it far too late to make ground from the back.
Darren Weir stable representative Darryn Murphy said the start was costly.
“She’s normally a good beginner but it looked like there were one or two restless horses close to her and maybe she got distracted,” Murphy said.
“(Jockey Ethan Brown) said she came out … (and) straight away got crowded and chopped out.
“For her, she couldn’t have ended up in a worse position.”
The win was all about Shoreham however, which returned to the winner’s stall for the first time in four years, and trainer Saab Hasan said the win “means a lot” to him.
“I’ve never had this horse going better,” the trainer said.
“He left home for two years to Gerald Ryan’s and he looked after him pretty well.”
Hussan said the victory has been a full circle experience for him.
“I contacted Les Cowell, the owner and asked if I could buy him back and he said he’ll stay in with him and we’ll race him together and he’s never, ever gone better.
“Like I said to Benny (jockey Ben Thompson), I’ve been training for a Melbourne Cup for three years, but I said he’s not really a genuine stayer … (but) I was just oozing with confidence.”
The trainer said he has never seen his elect present better than it has as a veteran.
“The horse has never been going better for an eight-year-old. He’s been trialling with horses like Chautauqua and just matching it. He’s had nothing go wrong.
“This means a lot to me this win.
“This horse was going to put us on the map until he was taken away. He’s back now, and just the personal satisfaction to get him over the line.”
While it there was a strong sense of personal vindication for Hasan, the trainer said owner Les Cowell “deserves to be rewarded”.
“We did a deal with Les Cowell. He didn’t need money in selling the horse,” he explained.
“I’ve got to thank Mr and Mrs Cowell; I rang him up and asked him if I could buy the horse back.
“I had no money, and his reply was, ‘I don’t need the money, but I need to sell the horse’. I said, ‘I need to win a race with this horse, because he’s been in the wilderness for two years, and I know the key to him’.
“So five minutes later he rang me back and said, ‘Scratch him [from the A.D. Hollindale Stakes]’, put together a package and we’ll take what you’ve got to offer, and we’ll go 50-50.”
Hasan said that he calls the shots with the horse and the owner trusts his instincts.
“He owns the horse with me and I make all the decisions and calls, he’s never going to go anywhere else, he’ll be retired there.
“He scratched him in the Group 2 [Hollindale] race that day, paid $2500, and had him on my doorstep three days later. He’s a gentleman, and deserves to be rewarded.”