Imported stayer Sea Moon is a chance to run in the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) next weekend after he qualified for a start in the race with a grinding victory in the Group 2 Herbert Power Stakes (2400m) at Caulfield this afternoon.
Sea Moon could go to the Caulfield Cup after Herbert Power Stakes win. Photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
Sea Moon was first across the line in the Listed The Bart Cummings (2500m) at Flemington last weekend but lost the race to Araldo on protest and looked unlikely to earn a start in the Caulfield Cup.
The Macedon Lodge team of Lloyd Williams made the decision to back Sea Moon up just a week later and the decision paid off; with the Beat Hollow entire producing a strong staying performance to record a narrow victory from a game Oasis Bloom and Irish stayer Simenon.
The Williams Team will decide within the next 24 hours whether Sea Moon will run in the Caulfield Cup (2400m) and Nick Williams said he is not worried about running the five-year-old three weeks in a row.
“We thought that last week was a little inconclusive and we really want to find out about this horse,” Williams said after the race.
“I think that he has done a good job today and we will make a decision in the next 24 hours whether we will pay up for him next Tuesday and he can run next Saturday.
“It is a very clear possibility; Dad did this a number of years ago with a house that he had called Norizzy, ran him three weeks in a row, and I know that a couple of Lee Freedman winners have run three weeks in a row so it is certainly not unknown.
“The horse has shown that he has stepped-up from last week and we will make a decision whether we run him next Saturday or save him for another race on route to the Melbourne Cup.”
Jockey Hugh Bowman changed his tactics on Sea Moon in the Herbert Power Stakes and rode him far closer to the pace than he has in his previous Australian starts.
Bowman said that the classy stayer settled into a lovely rhythm during the run and believes he will continue to improve as he gets further up in distance
“We changed his tactics a little bit today but I thought from about the 1400m I got him into a really nice rhythm and from then on I was very confident, particularly when Damien Lane started to build the tempo from about the 700,” Bowman said after the race.
“The further I went the strong he was.
“He has carried the top weight today and he has down it in style.”
Willie Mullins-trained Simenon was making his Australian debut in the Hebert Power Stakes and produced the perfect Melbourne Cup trial.
The former hurdler came around the outside of the field and showed an impressive turn-of-foot to finish third in what was his first attempt in a race shorter than 2800 metres in over three years.
