The pace was white hot in the Premier’s Cup and the winner was a similar colour with Shuffle The Cash scoring a big win at Doomben.
There were plenty battling for the lead early on with Mr Clangtastic finding it in company with Femina Fashion and Little Stranger.
It looked as if they all didn’t want to be too far away based on the earlier results in the day and the field was strung out with enough pace to finally give some of the backmarkers a shot at the death.
They made the turn for home and Mr Clangtastic was gone along with Femina Fashion and it was Shuffle The Cash which pushed through form behind them.
Little Stranger battled gamely down the straight with Tinseltown getting a run very late in the piece.
There was a bit of interference on a couple of the runners mid field but the result was never in doubt with Shuffle The Cash cruising home to a big victory.
Tinseltown hit the line the best but the run came too late, just edging out Little Stranger in third.
De Fine Lago rounded out the first four but the day belongs to Shuffle The Cash and Luke Nolen.
He’s won three in a row and would have had four if Black Caviar wasn’t scratched from the Doomben 10,000.
Local trainer Bryan Guy was wrapped with the performance and was especially pleased given he wasn’t sure he could handle the increased trip.
“I’ll sit down and have a talk to the owners, he might go to the 2400m after today,” he said.
That would put him into the Brisbane Cup field but there’s no guarantees he wants to jump up to that level.
“We might have a look at the Ipswich Cup now in a fortnights time,” he said.
Guy says the six-year-old just loves to run and he can’t wait to get into training when he’s back in his stable.
“At home in the box he sees the other horses on the walker and he starts squealing and carrying on,” he said.
There’s a good chance connections will twist the arm enough to get a run in the Brisbane Cup and it’s a path Nolen would be happy to follow.
“I don’t think he’d be without a chance in that, he settles nicely, he’d be very competitive I’m sure,” he said.
On a personal level it was fantastic for Nolen as well with three in a row rounding out his card at Doomben today.
“I’ve got the whole Eastern Seaboard covered today, one from Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane,” he said.
“The way the race was run really suited us.”
