A classic Craig Williams ride resulted in Amorino upsetting the favourite Under The Louvre in the Listed $120,000 Anniversary Vase (1400m) at Caulfield today.
Amorino slices through the field to upset the favourite in the Anniversary Vase at Caulfield. Photo by Adrienne Bicknell.
Williams had Amorino ($13) travelling sweetly midfield before moving off the fence approaching the home turn and was then able to weave a passage in the straight before dashing to the front to record his third win from his last four starts.
The top Melbourne jockey has established a great association with the Archie Alexander trained gelding and today’s win was his third on the five year old following his two wins at Flemington in March, the Group 3 $150,000 TAB Rewards Stakes (1400m) and the Listed $120,000 My Kitchen Rules Stakes (1400m)
“Amorino has been very well-handled by Archie and the horse has responded well,” Williams said.
“For me has been a really good horse, we were fortunate to get a lovely run in the race and he does handle the conditions of the track.
“He really delivered well in the last 50 and he had to be strong because the horse that ran second I have a lot of respect for.”
Nicholas Hall settled Under The Louvre ($2.50 favourite) near the tail of the field and brought the backmaker with his usual last finishing burst but was unable to peg back the winner who had enjoyed a trouble free run.
Third placegetter Marianne ($8) looked a threat when she chimed in at the clock tower but faded on her run slightly to be beaten just over a length from the winner.
Sistine Demon ($6.50) set up a solid tempo and after leading the field into the straight also faded to finish tenth, two and three quarter lengths behind Amorino.
Alexander said that he wasn’t over confident heading to races today with Amorino but was hoping to pick up a share of some of the minor prizemoney.
“We have always crept up in the weights and it is getting tougher and tougher so I thought that he might be a place chance at best, but he has proved us wrong again,” Alexander said.
“It was a great ride from Craig. That is three Stakes races now and it is great.”
2015 Anniversary Vase Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | AMORINO | Archie Alexander | Craig Williams | – | 4 | 59kg | $13 |
| 2 | 3 | UNDER THE LOUVRE | Robert Smerdon | Nicholas Hall | 0.3L | 14 | 59kg | $2.50F |
| 3 | 7 | MARIANNE (NZ) | Leon & Troy Corstens | Dwayne Dunn | 1.05L | 2 | 54kg | $8 |
| 4 | 15 | BIPPO NO BUNGUS | Neville Parnham | Chris Parnham | 1.55L | 10 | 54kg | $16 |
| 5 | 6 | GRACIOUS PROSPECT | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Michael Walker | 1.75L | 6 | 54kg (cd 54.5kg) | $21 |
| 6 | 18e | PYRROLIC | Peter G Moody | Vlad Duric | 1.95L | 7 | 54kg | $9 |
| 7 | 10 | TRADE COMMISSIONER (IRE) | Chris Waller | Stephen Baster | 2.05L | 1 | 54kg | $41 |
| 8 | 8 | LORD DURANTE | Simone Ferchie | Darren Gauci | 2.15L | 3 | 54kg | $51 |
| 9 | 12 | PIN YOUR HOPES (NZ) | Mathew Ellerton & Simon Zahra | Chad Schofield | 2.45L | 9 | 54kg | $21 |
| 10 | 4 | SISTINE DEMON | Andrew Noblet | Patrick Moloney (a) | 2.65L | 13 | 56.5kg | $6.50 |
| 11 | 1 | BEL SPRINTER | Jason Warren | Ben Melham | 3.4L | 8 | 60kg | $26 |
| 12 | 11 | VIBRANT ROUGE | Glenn Thornton | Damien Thornton (a) | 4.4L | 11 | 54kg | $71 |
| 13 | 16e | STRATCOMBE | Brett Scott | Dean Yendall | 4.5L | 12 | 54kg | $51 |
| 14 | 14 | PRECIOUS GEM | Gwenda Johnstone | Regan Bayliss (a) | 4.9L | 5 | 54kg | $17 |
