Snitty Kitty the queen of short-course racing after Caulfield win
FOUR-YEAR-OLD mare Snitty Kitty claimed the title “Queen of short-course racing” on Saturday when taking out the Group 2 Caulfield Sprint in record time.
The Henry Dwyer-trained daughter of Snitzel broke the race record for the 1000m at Caulfield under showery conditions to score its third consecutive win.
Snitty Kitty was easy in the betting to start the day, but punters wised up and backed it into $3.30 at Neds.com.au just before they jumped.
As predicted, Super Too led and Snitty Kitty sat just off its back, but it had too much up its sleeve in the straight as it went quickly past Super Too which was a notable drifter from $3.50 to $7.
“She is a pleasure. I’ve had one other ride on her before and she did the exact same thing,” said Beau Mertens, who rode Snitty Kitty according to plan. “We knew it (Super Too) was going to lead.
“She loves sitting outside them, but she made my job a lot easier with the way her racing pattern is.
“She puts in and has a crack.”
Henry Dwyer has said all along that he didn’t think much of Snitty Kitty before it got to the races, but it has continued to step up and has now won six from its 11 career starts.
“Every step of the way we thought she wasn’t much good,” Dwyer said. “We paid a bit of money for her, but we thought before she raced that she wouldn’t win a race.
“She’s gone to the races and every race she’s gone to she’s won a fillies race, a restricted race and now she’s stepped up to a group two today and she runs time.”
A change of tact proved to be the right move for Dwyer, who was targeting the Alingi Stakes with the talented mare.
“We were going for the listed race – the Alinghi Stakes, but we thought we’d change last minute to come here, which was obviously a good move,” Dwyer said.
“She keeps getting the job done and who’s to know where the ceiling is.”
Dwyer had a race planned during the Melbourne spring carnival, but after two unbeaten runs this campaign, he’s considering putting it out to spell for the autumn.
“The idea was the Begonia Belle Stakes on Derby day, but I doubt we’ll go back to a listed race now,” he said. “I did nominate her for the good group one race this spring, thinking we’d be going to the Magic Millions Sprint in January, but I think she’d done a good job this preparation.
“She’s two-from-two, she’s an immature mare, she needs more time and she will be better with more time.
“I wouldn’t mind tipping her out and bringing her back for the Oakleigh Plate in the autumn.”