Super consistent sprinter Wanted snagged the big one when he led throughout to win the $100,000 Group One Newmarket Handicap (1200m) at a stormy Flemington on Saturday.
Wanted’s last four starts have been in group one sprints and have returned three second placings and a last start fourth, all of which Wanted was less the a length from the winner, so a victory in the Newmarket was well deserved.
With lightning surrounding the track, Luke Nolen bounced Wanted from barrier seven straight to the lead in the middle of the track. Starspangledbanner (Nikolic) sitting on his outside and Eagle Falls (McEvoy) camped behind the leading pair.
From the 400m the pressure was poured on with Starspangledbanner moving up to eyeball Wanted and Eagle Falls shifting out to start his charge. Of the other 16 runners none looked like throwing down the gauntlet to the first trio, even two furlongs from home.
As Starspangledbanner and Eagle Falls edged closer Wanted kicked and kicked strongly, at the 300m it was almost a line of three but by the 200m Wanted was three quarters in front and didn’t look like stopping.
The sectionals probably told the story the best with Wanted covering the last 400m in 24.02, only Tollesprit (Maskiell) and Trusting (Williams) finished off quicker with 23.93 but they were 13th and 15th respectively at the time they passed the 400m mark.
At the finish the official margin was a length to Eagle Falls with a neck to Starspanglebanner in third. The overall time was 1.10.11 with wanted running his last 600m in 34.98.
”Terrific ride by Luke, he carried and nursed him as long as he could and it was long overdue because he is a damn good colt and he deserved a group one on his resume,” Moody said.
“I have to give full credit to Quinten Scott and his team down in Cranbourne, I approached the stewards for permission to take him away from the stables because I just thought the back-up in the seven days may have just floored him a bit and Quiny and his staff have done a wonderful job down there, they work on a lot of our horses.
“We have kept him out of the box, we have paddock trained him, he has popped over a few logs, it was just a change of scenery, fitness wasn’t an issue.
“My team at home have done a fantastic job over the last six or seven months with this bloke to get him ready for today.
“He is an incredibly well bred horse and there is no more consistent sprinter in the land and he really deserved the group one so we are very happy.
“He will probably go down the path to Sydney now and the TJ Smith but we will sit back now and have a think about it, today was the day we wanted. “
“He was still pretty strong in the run, Pete said just try to get along with him, don’t pull him around too much like we have in previous runs and I have to say he was right,” Nolen said.
“In saying that we had a colt fifth up coming into today and he probably needed those necessary runs to do what he did today.”
By Fastnet Rock out of the Snippets mare Fragmentation Wanted is owned by Hayson Bloodstock Syndicate (Mgr: M Fagan), Mrs K Fagan, G Johns & G J Manning. He has a record of three wins and six placings from 14 starts and has returned connections $1,191,000.
15 minutes after the Newmarket the meeting was postponed after a freak hail storm swept across the track leaving the course covered in ice and surface water.
Wanted and Luke Nolan return to the mountyard in pouring rain, picture Sportpix.com.au.