Unsung heroine Blazing Cartier rewrote the script in tonight’s heats of the Group 1 RSN Sandown Cup (715m).
Trainer Robert Britton is now chasing his third Sandown Cup win in four years after Blazing Cartier (pictured) won her heat tonight in clockwork style. He scored with Fanta Bale in 2017 and Tornado Tears in 2018. (Tornado Tears finished seventh in last year’s final.)
Ironically, it was five-time G1 winner Tornado Tears and his younger full brother – Sandown 715m track record holder Here’s Tears – who were considered Britton’s mainstays. But Blazing Cartier came up with precision timing in Heat 3.
Noted as a come-from-behind stayer, Blazing Cartier (Jun ’17 My Bro Fabio x Esparza) set the scene by jumping straight to the lead before being challenged early by latest staying find Mister Harlewood.
But the superior stamina of Blazing Cartier ($9.50) came to the fore and she streaked away with an effortless 6L win over G1 Zoom Top winner Just Terms ($11.00) with Mister Harlewood ($1.40) fading for third in 41.93sec.
A three-time G1 finalist, Blazing Cartier registered her 13th win from 48 starts.
WATCH: BLAZING CARTIER (3) produces one of the shocks of the night, accounting for MISTER HARLEWOOD (1).
Well, if the third heat was a surprise then Heat 4 was a major upset.
Sentimental favourite Tornado Tears was resuming after a 110-day let-up but was still expected to reach his third successive Sandown Cup final.
But in a roughhouse affair, Bronski Beat ($16.20) skipped away with an unassailable lead to win by 9.8L over Zipping Clifford ($11.40) with Tornado Tears ($4.20) third in 42.07sec. Submission ($2.10F) finished fourth, 10.8L from the winner, while last year’s winner Rajasthan was sixth beaten 15.4L.
Trained at Lara by Brenda Pursell, Bronski Beat (Feb ’18 Fernando Bale x Ainsley Bale) registered his ninth – and most important – win from 29 starts.
WATCH: BRONSKI BEAT (7) was a dominant heat winner by almost 10 lengths.
Punters rallied for the enigmatic, but potentially freakish, Here’s Tears in Heat 1.
During this year’s Australian Cup Carnival at The Meadows, Here’s Tears won the G1 Fanta Bale Super Stayers (725m) and finished second in the G1 Zoom Top (725m).
But it was the Andrea Dailly-trained Rockstar Beav (Mar ’17 Collison x Bekim Bale) who prevailed. It was his 19th win from 71 starts, and his fourth win from his past six starts.
A dual G1 finalist, Rockstar Beav ($4.50) defeated He Shall Power ($4.40) by 1.4L with Here’s Tears ($2.80F) a further 1.8L away third in 41.69sec (Best).
WATCH: ROCKSTAR BEAV (8) notched his fourth win from his past six starts in a Best of Night 41.69sec.
Frontrunning staying star True Detective went ‘coast-to-coast’ in Heat 2.
Trained by Jeff Britton, True Detective ($2.90) was never in doubt defeating Ella Enchanted ($6.30) by 4.7L with Renewed ($33.40) a further 4.2L away third in 41.88sec.
A three-time G1 finalist, True Detective (Aug ’17 Black Magic Opal x Little Grey) notched his 22nd win from 38 starts. It was his eighth win in 10 starts from Box 1, and his fourth win from eight starts over Sandown’s 715m trip.
The Jamie Ennis-trained Ella Enchanted has now made consecutive Sandown Cup finals. Last year, she finished runner-up to Rajasthan.
WATCH: WATCH: TRUE DETECTIVE (1) was at his brilliant best, scoring in 41.88sec.
