Consistent veteran Le Bonsir has delivered veteran jockey Damien Oliver a black type win at Moonee Valley this afternoon; producing an impressive final straight sprint to beat a handy field to the line in the Listed Carlyon Stakes (1000m).
Jumping from the gates well, Le Bonsir immediately travelled forward and settled in prime position on the rails, two lengths off the pace of early leaders Sweet Emily, Il Cavallo and She’s Ellie, who set only a fair tempo.
Peeling out upon arriving at the final straight, the Choisir gelding immediately responded when asked for an extra effort by Oliver, easily finding the fore of the field and extending to post a ninth career win in his 38th start.
Mick Price was pleased with Le Bonsir’s effort for success in the 2015 Carlyon Stakes, and revealed he had only entered the horse in the race as a stepping stone towards the Listed Drummond Golf Stakes (1200m) at Moonee Valley in a fortnight.
“I know he’s a sprinter but this was actually the run in between runs,” Price said.
“He ran two weeks ago and four weeks was going to be too long for him and I just had to put him in here because he loves Moonee Valley.
“I don’t think Damien has ridden him much but it was one of those races where there was a lot of 900m type of speed in it – they were going to go hard and stop.
“A month ago I would have said I don’t need to go a thousand metres with him because he gets off the bridle too early, but today’s race just worked out absolutely perfectly.
“As an eight-year-old these horses don’t need to be whizzing around Caulfield every single day, so we mix it up for him and he really responds.”
Oliver delivered a typically great ride aboard the eight-year-old in the 2015 Carlyon Stakes and was pleased to post a black type win in his first time partnering the horse competitively.
“He’s a beautiful horse. It was my first ride in a race on him but he loves this track and he’s just a dream to ride,”
“He’s a classy horse at those sprint distances, it’s just hard to believe he hasn’t had a run at 1000m before, for what reason I do not know.
“He’s just a horse for course and he loves Moonee Valley here. Coming to the turn I was confident he was going to be pretty hard to beat.”
Le Bonsir received good support in 2015 Carlyon Stakes betting markets in the hours leading up to jump, but still left at a generous quote of $8 for success with Ladbrokes.com.au.
2015 Carlyon Stakes Results
| Finish | No. | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Bar. | Weight | Starting Price |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 | LE BONSIR | Mick Price | Damien Oliver | – | 9 | 57kg | $8 |
| 2 | 9 | JUST MAGICAL | Lyn Tolson & Leonie Proctor | Michael Walker | 1L | 7 | 56kg | $41 |
| 3 | 6 | IL CAVALLO | Peter G Moody | Dwayne Dunn | 2.5L | 5 | 56kg | $8.50 |
| 4 | 12 | KLISHINA | David Bourne | Chris Parnham | 2.6L | 10 | 54kg | $26 |
| 5 | 3 | ECLAIR CHOICE | Phillip Stokes | Dom Tourneur | 2.7L | 2 | 57kg | $5.50 |
| 6 | 8 | TANSY | Byron Cozamanis | Damian Lane | 2.8L | 3 | 56kg | $19 |
| 7 | 1 | GREGERS | David Hayes & Tom Dabernig | Craig Williams | 3.2L | 11 | 57kg | $2.50F |
| 8 | 11 | SWEET EMILY | Phil Sweeney | Harry Coffey (a) | 3.3L | 1 | 54kg | $12 |
| 9 | 7 | FAST CASH | Wendy Kelly | Craig Newitt | 4.8L | 6 | 56kg | $12 |
| 10 | 4 | MR MAKE BELIEVE | Robbie Laing | Mark Zahra | 4.9L | 4 | 56kg | $81 |
| 11 | 10 | BEACH FRONT | Brent Stanley | Stephen Baster | 6.15L | 13 | 54kg | $101 |
| 12 | 5 | OUR NKWAZI | Shawn Mathrick | Ben Melham | 7.15L | 12 | 56kg | $31 |
| 13 | 13 | SHE’S ELLIE | Neil Pfeiffer | Patrick Moloney (a) | 7.9L | 8 | 54kg | $151 |
