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It was a close affair in the finish but the classy prospect Galah got up to win the $250,000 Carbine Club Stakes in the last stride at Flemington today.
The Redoute's Choice colt, trained by Peter Snowden, had been well backed from the moment markets opened after an impressive win in the listed Gothic Stakes over 1400m at Caulfield on Caulfield Cup Day, but the wide open spaces and a further 200m was another step.
Jockey Kerrin McEvoy settled Galah in mid-field racing one out from the rails as First Course and Michelle Payne followed by Cross Of Gold and Damien Oliver took the field through to the straight.
McEvoy was four wide on the turn and having to urge Galah forward. They improved passing the 300m but still had a length to make up on the leaders. The colt's backers were starting to feel uneasy as the 200m went by and Galah was still chasing, but then McEvoy judged the timing to perfection.
He became urgent on the colt and to Galah's credit he responded over the final 150m chasing hard, and reaching the front in the final strides to win with a short half-head margin. There was an almost audible sigh as the $1.30 favourite went past the line.
Highly Recommended (Fastnet Rock) and Luke Nolan were second with Saint Etienne (Spinning World) and Danny Nikolic third. First Course was fifth.
The time was 1.37.84 on the Dead 5 track with the final 600m in 36.39.
“It was not meant to be that hard but he has won us the money,” said Snowden.
“There is plenty of upside to the horse; he is still learning what it is all about. He had a good look down the straight here today. He got the job done, that is the main thing.
“He is like that. He was very similar at Caulfield the other day. He is one of those horses where the more you wake him up, the more it ignites him and he lifts," he said about McEvoy having to work on the colt.
“He is probably another six months away from being at his best. I think in the autumn we will see him at his best. Probably 2000 metres or further will be his best distance," he added.
“I was a little bit worried when I first asked him the question and he was not as electric as he was the other day," said McEvoy.
“He is still a baby and that's what had me worried a bit today, (his) first try at 1600 metres and the big open spaces of Flemington. He's still learning and there's no doubt he will win some nice races.
“We probably expected him to win a bit easier today but he got the job done.
“He is still hot and cold throughout the run. We had the winkers on today and maybe he didn't like the winkers, he might be better with them off. He was second-up after a scintillating win at Caulfield and they can sometimes run a little bit below their best but I'm still happy with the horse," he said.
Galah now goes forward for the $350,000, Group 2, Sandown Guineas (1600m) at Sandown on November 12th. He is the first foal of Rinky Dink, by Distorted Humor, who won the SAJC Group 1 Australasian Oaks and he is one of 20 Australian three-year-old winners by his sire Redoute's Choice.
After just five starts Galah has won four in succession and placed second in his first start with stakes of $313,900.