It was somewhat of an upset in the 2011 Queen Elizabeth Stakes continuing a day of big value winners at Flemington.
Ironstein upstaged the well fancied Bauer over the 2600m trip to get up paying a huge $20 with online bookmaker Luxbet.
Ironstein has been a real mainstay of the provincial Cup’s circuit and came here today looking for his second Group 3 victory.
He won his first up in Brisbane earlier in the year and since then has been a model of consistency.,
The horse has had a hectic program and has been in work nearly the entire year but he showed today he can handle it and he thrives off racing.
Trainer Gerald Ryan explains just how good the horse has been to him.
” He’s been ticking over alright, ” he said.
“Over his last 19 starts he’s finished outside the first five twice.”
It’s an impressive record but still to actually get up and win today was a great effort, especially the way he did.
Ironstein hit the lead with 300m to go but form there only lengthened his margin.
He cut across Shootoff at about the 100m mark but it was of no relevance as he simply powered away from there to win by a space.
Shootoff was in second with Paddy O’reilly working home for third.
Bauer ended up finishing fourth after different riding tactics were used on him in this run.
While noted as a get back horse Bauer was pushed forward and sat in the first four, potentially sapping that closing kick we’ve become sued to in his last couple of runs.
There were no such issues for Brenton Avdulla on Ironstein.
“We’ve been quite confident with him all week….we had a perfect run in transit with him,” he said.
“It’s good to come back home and get another black type winner during the carnival.”
He says the horse is just a genuine trier and it’s a good win for him as he looks to build his own standing during the carnival.
“Hopefully 12 months time we’re back here and I can take out one of the features,” he said.
As for Ironstein, a future career over the hurdles could be an option.
“I’m sure he’s going to make a tremendous jumper,” he said.
On this performance though they’d surely be tempted to keep him on the flat for a while longer, especially given he only missed out on a Melbourne Cup start by two spots this year.
Ironstein paid $20 with Luxbet while Shootoff was worth $2.80 and Paddy O’reilly $4.70
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2011 Queen Elizabeth Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 9 | IRONSTEIN | Gerald Ryan | Brenton Avdulla | – | 9 | 54kg | $20 |
| 2 | 2 | SHOOTOFF (NZ) | Graeme Rogerson | Kerrin McEvoy | 2.25L | 6 | 57kg | $9.50 |
| 3 | 5 | PADDY O’REILLY (NZ) | Robert Smerdon | Nash Rawiller | 4.5L | 3 | 55kg | $20 |
| 4 | 1 | BAUER (IRE) | Luca Cumani | Michael Rodd | 5.5L | 5 | 57kg | $2.10F |
| 5 | 10 | ANUDJAWUN (NZ) | Shaun Dwyer | Mark Zahra | 5.6L | 8 | 54kg | $13 |
| 6 | 3 | SAHARA SUN (CHI) | Luca Cumani | Dwayne Dunn | 6.35L | 10 | 55.5kg | $41 |
| 7 | 14 | MONTGOMERY (NZ) | Colin & Cindy Alderson | Peter Mertens | 6.55L | 7 | 54kg | $31 |
| 8 | 11 | BACK IN BLACK (NZ) | John Steffert | Danny Nikolic | 7.55L | 13 | 54kg (cd 54.5kg) | $51 |
| 9 | 6 | MACEDONIAN (NZ) | Peter G Moody | Luke Nolen | 8.3L | 2 | 54.5kg | $6.50 |
| 10 | 4 | BOOM ’N’ ZOOM | Ken Keys | Craig Newitt | 8.5L | 1 | 55kg | $15 |
| 11 | 13 | HOME ON A WING | Anthony Cummings | Dean Yendall | 9.25L | 4 | 54kg | $51 |
| 12 | 7 | RAFFAELLO | Patrick F Ryan | Ms Nikita McLean | 10L | 11 | 54.5kg | $41 |
| 13 | 8 | TACTIC (GB) | David Hayes | Nicholas Hall | 11.75L | 12 | 54.5kg | $101 |
| 14 | 12 | SPECHENKA | Ben Ahrens | Chris Munce | 15.5L | 14 | 54kg | $41 |