Waller, McDonald race away with Carbine Club Stakes
Chris Waller has won his third Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes (1600m) in four years after Straight Arron ($2.15F) and James McDonald combined in race 2 on Day 1 of The Championships at Royal Randwick.
Settling second last after jumping widest from barrier 8, the lightly raced three-year-old Fastnet Rock gelding started peeling around the field three wide at the 600m before winding up down the outside and unleashing a brilliant run on the heavy 9 track.
He managed to career away from the rest of the field for an impressive 2.66-length victory to the Danny Williams-trained Jalmari ($10) with Cap Estel ($5.50) 3.06-lengths 3rd for Anthony Cummings.
2022 Carbine Club Stakes Replay
“It was a tricky draw. James (McDonald) just wanted to look after him early and make sure he got cover and settled. I didn’t think they went along that quick. It was good to see him show good acceleration because he made it look easy,” Waller said.
“We’ll just slowly raise the bar. He looks like he is a nice, progressive horse. He is well bred, the owners are nice and patient so they’ve given me the opportunity to give him time. I found with horses like that, they can keep raising the bar so he’s got a really bright future.
“His pedigree would suggest he can get to 2000m.”
McDonald thought he had gained improvement from his last run where he finished 2nd at Warwick Farm in a Benchmark 72 1400m.
“He just felt like a different horse today compared to Warwick Farm, just the circumference of the track. He was able to get into a lovely rhythm there and glide up to them.
“He’s a pretty good horse, I think he’ll measure up in some real big races during the winter if he goes that way. He just oozes quality.”
Straight Arron won at Sandown on a Good 4 in January and has proved his versatility with todays win on a heavy track.