In-form sprinter Viridine scored back to back wins at Caulfield when he carried 62kg  in victory in a head bobbing finish in the Listed $140,000 Evergreen Turf Regal Roller Stakes (1200m) today.

Viridine, above, was the winner of the Regal Roller Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.

Viridine, above, was the winner of the Regal Roller Stakes at Caulfield. Photo by Steve Hart.

The James Cummings trained Viridine was up 3.5kg on his last start win in the Group 3 $128,000 Bletchingly Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield three weeks ago and didn’t shirk his task under the extra impost.

Jockey Mark Zahra took over the reins from Damien Oliver and had Viridine ($4.20) travelling smoothly just off the pace in fourth spot.

Begood Toya Mother ($7.50) led the field into the straight but Zahra was able to angle Viridine into the clear and the six year old was in for the fight when he loomed up to the outside of the $4 favourite Age Of Chivalry.

They had a good tussle to the line with Viridine getting the judge’s decision by a nose with She Shao Fly one and half lengths back in third spot.

Begood Toya Mother battled on over the concluding stages to finish fourth.

Stable representative Sean Keogh said that Virdine could step up in grade now but he would leave that decision up to Cummings and the Team.

“He is in great order at the moment,” Keogh said.

“We looked to see that three weeks from his Bletchingly run would be nice for him.”

“This race just looked nice and with the 62kg he was game late.”

“He is probably not getting any better at his age but he is keeping great consistent form at this stage so we will see how he comes through this run and we will take it from there.”

About The Author

Mark Mazzaglia

Mark is a passionate journalist with a life-time involvement in the racing industry. He spent many years as an analyst and form expert at the Courier Mail and also has hands-on experience working with some of Queensland’s top trainers.