Humidor showed a scintillating turn-of-foot to record a most impressive victory in the 2017 Makybe Diva Stakes at Flemington this afternoon.
Damian Lane took Humidor right back to the tail of the field in the early stages of the Makybe Diva Stakes, while Hey Doc and Hartnell did battle for the lead.
Humidor carted himself into the race coming into the straight and he absolutely exploded when he was asked for an extra effort to quickly put away his rivals – with the Australian Cup winner putting a gap on his rivals in the final stages of the race.
Hartnell hit the front at the 200 metre mark, but Humidor looked like the winner a long way from home and he put a gap on his rivals in the last 100 metres.
It had been an up and down day for Lane before the Makybe Diva Stakes – he fell from his mount Limestone in the Group 2 Danehill Stakes (1200m) – and he was clearly delighted to claim another Group 1 victory, but he was quick to pay credit to the work that the Weir stable has done with Humidor.
“He is a great talent and he is really starting to put it together now,” Lane said.
“He lobbed a long out the back there and he started to travel under me turning for home.
“I thought that he was the winner a long way out.
“It is a credit to Darren and all his team.
“They have such a good knack of getting these horses to relax and he has come such a long way since he came to the stable.”
Weir typically downplayed the chances of Humidor before the Makybe Diva Stakes and he did seem genuinely surprised that the now two-time Group 1 winner had won the race in such emphatic fashion.
There are plenty of options for Humidor during the 2017 Spring Racing Carnival, but Weir confirmed that the Group 1 Caulfield Cup (2400m) remains the major target.
“Humidor ran unbelievable really,” Weir said.
“He always promised that and it is just of matter of being able to get him right.
“The team have worked really hard to try and get his manners better and you can see in the yard that he has paraded a lot better.
“Damian has done a lot of the hard yards.
“When he tracked up and got to the outside I thought that he would let go, but I didn’t think he would let go like that.
“It is a great for the future.
“It has been a lot of hard work by the crew behind the scenes.
“We are winning the battle.
“The Caulfield Cup has been the plan all along and he is on track.”
Hartnell was not disgraced in second, while Black Heart Bart produced a typically gallant performance in third.