Haptic will head towards the 2015 Golden Slipper after he upset stablemate Furnaces in the Listed Lonhro Plate (1100m) at Royal Randwick this afternoon.
Haptic led from start to finish to record an impressive victory in the 2015 Lonhro Plate. Photo by: Steve Hart
Haptic jumped from the gates quickly and took up in the running in the early stages of the Lonhro Plate, while Furnaces was settled just behind the leading duo.
Furnaces started the Lonhro Plate as a dominant odds-on favourite, but he was left a little bit flat footed when jockey Blake Shinn asked Haptic for an extra effort at the top of the straight and the Exceed And Excel colt was able to hold off his more fancied stablemate to record his second straight win from as many race starts.
Haptic made his racing debut with a strong win in the Place Multi Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick on January 24 and his 2015 Golden Slipper odds are set to shorten dramatically following his Lonhro Plate victory.
Furnaces stamped himself as a leading contender for the Group 1 Golden Slipper (1200m) when he made his racing debut with a comfortable victory in the Primo Moraitis Plate (1100m) at Rosehill Gardens on October 25 last year and he looks as though he will take plenty of benefit from his first-up performance.
Team Snowden-trained Wolf Cry was extremely well-backed in the lead-up to the Lonhro Plate and he justified the support of punters to an extent when he stormed home late to finish third behind the Godolphin duo.
Wolf Cry was having his first race start since he finished third behind Golden Slipper favourite Vancouver in the Listed New South Wales Thoroughbred Breeders Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick on October 4 last year and is another colt that will be heading to the Golden Slipper.
Another horse that produced an eye-catching performance was Sebring Sun, who was settled towards the tail of the field by jockey Winona Costin before working home strongly in the final stages of the race.
Sebring Sun is yet to record a race win, but he has been far from disgraced in the Betting Season Plate (1000m) at Royal Randwick on October 11 last year and the Place Multi Plate (1000m) and is still a Golden Slipper contender.
The Lonhro Plate has not proven to be a particularly strong form reference for the Golden Slipper in recent years and last year’s winner Alpha Miss finished 14th in the Golden Slipper.
