Sweet Sherry overcomes wide draw to win Crockett Stakes
THE wide barrier draw put many punters off Sweet Sherry during the week, but the punters rallied late for the Bel Esprit filly and it proved to be the right decision.
The smart three-year-old sustained a wide run to win the Bertocchi Crockett Stakes at Moonee Valley on Saturday and after a campaign which was targeted towards the Thousand Guineas, winning a listed three-year-old event on Cox Plate day isn’t a bad consolation.
“I really thought we could win the Thousand Guineas with her,” co-trainer Troy Corstens said. “When she got sick, it was gut-wrenching.”
Corstens was full of praise for jockey Steven Arnold and believes the senior rider should be more utilised.
“You don’t lose class, Steve’s been a fantastic rider, always has been. Anything that goes around at 56.5kg we’ll put him on,” Corstens said.
Arnold didn’t panic from the wide draw with Sweet Sherry and he was able to gather momentum around the turn as it chased down pace-setter Overstep. He kept Rosa Carolina in a pocket in the straight, but its class showed through late in the race.
“She didn’t fly the barriers. I got a ride with cover. She travelled great down the side, always going to be tough to beat,” Arnold said.
“Thanks to the team. They’ve done a great job to get her back.
“Really nice filly, always done well at the best level.”
Sweet Sherry was backed late into $3.80 with CrownBet.com.au and Corstens is thinking about taking it to Flemington on Cup day.
“Listed race on Cup day, so we’ll have a look at that over 1400m then we might have a crack at the Sandown Guineas,” Corstens added.
Prompt Response stuck on well for second after travelling outside the speed which was set by the Chris Waller-trained Overstep.
It narrowly held onto third position at place odds of $3.20 over the unlucky Rosa Carolina which was kept in a pocket by Sweet Sherry.