Delectation Scores Narrow Arrowfield Sprint Win

Delectation held-off a fast-finishing Bring Me The Maid to score a narrow win in a thrilling edition of the 2015 Arrowfield Sprint at Royal Randwick this afternoon.

Delectation and Bring Me The Maid fought out the finish in the 2015 Arrowfield Sprint. Photo by: Steve Hart

Delectation and Bring Me The Maid fought out the finish in the 2015 Arrowfield Sprint. Photo by: Steve Hart

Delectation has raced erratically during his 2015 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival campaign to date, but jockey Hugh Bowman was able to restrain the three-year-old at the tail of the field in the early stages of the Arrowfield Sprint.

The Shamardal gelding track into the race nicely and hit the front at the 150 metre mark and looked like a certain winner, but Bring Me The Maid absolutely storm down the outside before falling just short of a return to winning form.

Bowman said after the race that Delectation can be a very difficult horse to ride, but he was thrilled with the way that the gelding settled in the early stages and he believes that, at his best Delectation deserves to be considered one of the best three-year-olds in the country.

“We got back and there was a lot of pressure early,” Bowman said.

“It was just what the doctor ordered with this horse, he can go keenly, but I was able to get him into beautiful rhythm back in the field and I got a nice run through.

“This horse ran second in the Coolmore Stakes in Melbourne behind Brazen Beau, so this horse can gallop, but as you can see he has some head gear on and he is a finicky horse and it is hard to get him to produce his best, but when he does he is better than this lot.

“I was confident that I had held on, but he was running on tired legs on this heavy track.”

Delectation has proven a great source of frustration for the Waller camp during the 2015 Sydney Autumn Racing Carnival, but the leading Sydney trainer was absolutely delighted to see the three-year-old return to winning form in the Arrowfield Sprint.

Waller was quick to pay credit to the effort of Hugh Bowman and he is hopeful that this could prove a turning point in the racing career of Delectation.

“He has been a very frustrating horse to say the least, but it was a good win today,” Waller said.

“Hugh Bowman has done a fantastic job with this horse, he is a very hard horse to ride and you can see that the horse has got what we call pacifiers that just help sedate the horse and help him settle and with a good jockey like Hugh Bowman he got him to settle beautifully today and he finished the race off well.

“He got a bit tired late, but we don’t worry about that.”

Bring Me The Maid was having her first race start since she failed to fire in the Group 1 Coolmore Stud Stakes (1200m) during the 2014 Spring Racing Carnival and went extremely close to returning to winning form, while Kuro, Rubick and Mossfun were unable to play a part in the finish.

About The Author

Thomas Hackett

Thomas is a passionate and opinionated racing journalist and punter who has been obsessed with horse racing since he backed Saintly to win the 1996 Melbourne Cup. An international racing enthusiast, he has his finger on the pulse of racing news not just from Australia but all around the world.