Talented mare Aerobatics completed a treble for trainer Peter Snowden with her second straight victory in the 2014 Darley Crown at Hawkesbury this afternoon.
Aerobatics seized a strong victory at the 2014 Darley Crown. Photo by Steve Hart.
Snowden trained the trifecta in the opening racing of the day with Generalife, Imperil and Suit and won the second event with Meursault and capped off his final day in charge of the Darley operation by winning the Darley Crown for the fifth time.
Aerobatics was settled in the middle of the field by jockey Christian Reith and she burst clear from the rest of the field when asked for an extra effort to score the first win of her autumn preparation from the well-backed Cosmic Endeavour and Plucky Belle.
Snowden said after the race that the Group 3 Darley Crown was always the major 2014 Autumn Racing Carnival goal for Aerobatics and he was delighted to see the Exceed And Excel mare return to winning form.
“It is the race that we picked out right from the beginning of her preparation and we aimed to have her peaking here,” Snowden said.
“She is a difficult filly to ride and you needs to get cover for her to switch off and the first three or four furlongs she wasn’t getting that and she was over racing badly like she did at Randwick the other day.
“I was hoping that something would come over her and something did and as soon as it did she switched off, had a breather and Christian rated her really well.
“She has a really good 200 metre sprint and he saved her for that and she was good late.
“She has ability, she is a very well-bred filly, and she has really come of age now.”
Snowden will step down as the head trainer for the Darley operation at the conclusion of the Hawkesbury meeting this afternoon and the veteran trainer said that he is happy to end his association with Darley on such a positive note.
Darley still have Wistful in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Gold Cup and Barbed and Sinjoren in the Group 3 Hawkesbury Guineas (1400m), but Snowden said it would be greedy to ask for another feature race win.
“That is three and I thought that if I got one that I would be happy,” Snowden said.
“Asking for four would be greedy, but I don’t mind being greedy.”
