VRC SPRINT CLASSIC

(GROUP 1)

ANY doubts that trainer Anthony Freedman had about the versatility of his Lope De Vega gelding Santa Ana Lane were erased on Saturday following Mark Zahra’s ice cool ride in the overheated speed ranks that gathered for the VRC Sprint Classic at Flemington.

Settled at the tail in the ‘straight six’ Group 1, Zahra played his cards last to swoop on the leaders and land a memorable win.

Home by a neck, the six-year-old defeated the Time Thief mare In Her Time, with a widening margin to the rest headed by the Pierro horse Pierata who dead-heated for third with Jungle Cat who was having his final start for Charlie Appleby.

“Now that he’s won up the straight, it’s opened up a few options for us,” said Freedman.

“He’s obviously out of handicaps now which restricts us a little bit.

“There has been talk of him going for Royal Ascot which for a lot of the guys that own him would be a thing that they’d love to do. We had planned to go to Hong Kong but the quarantine issue couldn’t be resolved.

“I think Royal Ascot would suit him, it’s a stiff 1,200 and he could be ridden quietly in what would likely be a big field. I think he’d definitely measure if that’s the way the guys want to go.”

Spirit Of Valour ran up to his Caulfield form finishing sixth beaten less than three lengths for Aidan O’Brien, though Intelligence Cross, U S Navy Flag and Fleet Review filled three of the final four placings in the race, with stewards noting that U S Navy Flag pulled up lame.

OLIVER’S RECORD

Damien Oliver’s win aboard Order Of Command in the final race was his 72nd Melbourne Cup Carnival win, equalling the long held record of Bobby Lewis who won four Melbourne Cups between 1902 and 1927.

“It’s a bit overwhelming actually,” said Oliver. “It’s been a long Carnival and there have been a lot of placings for me, a lot of seconds but it’s nice to equal (the record) on a horse of Danny O’Brien’s because he’s a good friend.”