The Lloyd Williams-owned C’est La Guerre has won the first Group race at Randwick today, scoring a classy victory in the $125,000 Group 3 Craven Plate (2000m).
It was the 2008 Melbourne Cup placegetter’s first win in two and a half years, and it was a beautiful victory as the six-year-old beat home the two favourites in the weight-for-age showdown.
Minutes before the race, Peter Snowden’s mare Purple shortened into the $2.60 favourite at Sportsbet after her hoop Corey Brown won the opening two races of the day.
Despite a good jump and leading nearly all the way, Purple was gallant in defeat finishing second to C’est La Guerre with the other early favourite, Chris Waller’s Triple Honour in third.
It was a two horse affair for much of the race in the early stages with Purple and Triple Honour fighting for the lead.
Triple Honour was slow to start before moving up to challenge Purple.
But on the home straight it was C’est La Guerre, ridden to perfection by Michael Rodd, who loomed up on the outside to take the lead, absolutely cruising around the turn, and win running away.
Looking back in form having beaten a good field, connections will now consider the spring campaign of C’est La Guerre including a possible tilt at the 2010 Melbourne Cup at Flemington on November 2.
The victory was the previous New Zealand Derby winner’s sixth win from 26 career starts.
The next race to jump at the Royal Randwick is Race 4 – the Group 2 Roman Consul Stakes (1200m) – at 1:30pm.
Currently Slater is the odds-on favourite to win the Roman Consul at $2.80 through Sportsbet, but we fancy $4.60 chance Buffering to cause an upset.
To get in on the Randwick racing action head straight over to [sportsbet] where punters get better odds and bigger payouts!
2010 Craven Plate Results
| Pos | Horse | Margin | Price | Barrier | Benchmark | Weight | Jockey | Trainer |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 2.C’EST LA GUERRE (NZ) | $8.00 | 6 | 108.00 | 59 | Michael Rodd | Robert Hickmott | |
| 02 | 6.PURPLE | 1.5 | $2.90 | 5 | 108.00 | 57 | Corey Brown | Peter Snowden |
| 03 | 1.TRIPLE HONOUR (NZ) | 1.6 | $2.70F | 4 | 114.00 | 59 | Glyn Schofield | Chris Waller |
| 04 | 7.NOTHIN’ LEICA CAT (NZ) | 2.1 | $15.00 | 2 | 87.00 | 57 | Hugh Bowman | Anthony Cummings |
| 05 | 5.THE EMBASSY (NZ) | 3.9 | $19.00 | 1 | 91.00 | 59 | Blake Shinn | Chris Waller |
| 06 | 3.SPINNEY | 6.5 | $13.00 | 3 | 100.00 | 59 | Joshua Parr | Peter Snowden |
| 07 | 4.CONISTON BLUEBIRD | 10.7 | $14.00 | 7 | 97.00 | 59 | Craig Williams | Bede Murray |
Craven Plate Exotic Bet Payouts
| Bet | Horse Numbers | [iasbet] SuperPrice |
|---|---|---|
| Exacta | 2-6 | $25.43 |
| Quinella | 2-6 | $11.06 |
| Trifecta | 2-6-1 | $51.69 |
| First4 | 2-6-1-7 | $297.36 |
