Talented three-year-old Mahuta has continued his sensation run of form through the Spring Carnival at Sandown this afternoon; producing a typically strong final straight sprint to take out the Group 2 Sandown Guineas (1600m).

Mahuta jumped as a justifiable favourite in the Sandown Guineas this afternoon and did his chances of success absolutely no harm when jumping well and settling in prime position on the heels of Demonstrate and Flying Light over the back straight and approaching the turn.

Offered clear air upon arriving at the final straight, the Flying Spur colt immediately responded when asked for an extra effort by jockey Brad Rawiller; mustering a huge turn of foot to open the gap on his rivals and hit the line more than two lengths in the clear of closest rival Dal Cielo.

Rawiller delivered a typically smart performance to partner Mahuta to success in the Sandown Guineas and is confident he will progress into a serious 2016 Australian Guineas prospect in autumn.

“He’s a winner and a bloody good horse,” Rawiller said.

“We drew the outside gate and had the speed to go and clear them, but I didn’t want to spark him and it’s a long straight down the back.

“I didn’t want to rush him and I thought I was going to get one out, one back but a couple of them kicked up and I kept him in his rhythm.

“Wow, when he straightened and kicked he was never going to get beaten. He’s a great horse.

“Cannot put enough credit on the team and Darren Weir, they just keep doing it.

“We said last start Australian Guineas is his go.”

Weir’s team has continued to produce huge feats through the 2015 Spring Carnival highlighted by Prince Of Penzance’s Melbourne Cup triumph, and the Ballarat-based trainer was thrilled with Mahuta’s third-consecutive black type win in the 2015 Sandown Guineas this afternoon.

“He’s an improving type of horse,” Weir said.

“When he won his maiden at Kyneton you probably wouldn’t expect him to get to here.

“He always showed promise, but he’s just one of those horses who has got into a rhythm and a purple patch and he just keeps improving.

“Today he showed a real turn of foot when he straightened, he went really well and I was really happy with him.

“He’s a good, tough horse and really simple to train.

“I suppose we’ll give him a break now for a month and bring him back for something like the Australian Guineas.”

Mahuta has now posted an impressive four wins and one minor through only six career starts since debuting to racing in September.

2015 Sandown Guineas Results

Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Starting Price
1	2	MAHUTA	Darren Weir	Brad Rawiller	–	12	57kg	$5F
2	1	DAL CIELO (NZ)	Murray Baker	Mark Zahra	1.25L	11	57kg	$6
3	12	DON’T DOUBT MAMMA	Tony McEvoy	Dwayne Dunn	2.25L	4	55kg	$6
4	10	NGARIMU (NZ)	Peter G Moody	Glen Boss	2.75L	6	57kg	$6
5	9	FLYING LIGHT	David Hayes & Tom Dabernig	Kerrin McEvoy	3.15L	9	57kg	$31
6	4	DEMONSTRATE	John O’Shea	James McDonald	4.4L	3	57kg	$7
7	6	PATCH ADAMS	Terry & Karina O’Sullivan	Steven Arnold	5.65L	10	57kg	$10
8	11	SHOCKAHOLIC	Matt Laurie	Chris Parnham	6.9L	5	57kg	$61
9	5	GREDINGTON	Pat Hyland	Craig Newitt	7.3L	1	57kg	$41
10	3	MARKY MARK	Moira Murdoch	Michael Walker	7.4L	2	57kg	$14
11	8	SEA OF TRANQUILITY	Matt Laurie	Luke Currie	8.4L	13	57kg	$41
12	14	MAYSAM	Mick Price	Vlad Duric	9.4L	7	55kg	$31
13	15	ZAFIKI (NZ)	Robert Smerdon	Daniel Stackhouse	9.8L	8	55kg	$21