Humidor finished over the top of her rivals to take out the 2017 Australian Cup at Flemington this afternoon.
Humidor was too good for his rivals in the 2017 Australian Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Leaders had won the majority of the races at Flemington this afternoon, but jockey Damian Lane elected to settle Humidor at the tail of the field, while Ecuador took up the running from Jameka in the early stages of the race.
Jameka kicked clear when asked for an extra effort by Hugh Bowman, but Humidor always loomed as the danger on the outside and he knuckled down in the final stages of the race to claim the 2017 Australian Cup.
Lane admitted after the race that he was unsure whether settling Humidor at the tail was the right move, but he was quick to pay credit to trainer Darren Weir who advised him to stick to their original plan in the Australian Cup.
“We have done a lot of work with him to get him to settle and run on,” Lane said.
“When the track was playing the way it hard it was playing on my mind all day, but we decided that there is no point riding him out of his pattern.
“Luckily enough the speed was genuine and he was too good on the day.
“It is a classic example of Darren setting one for a race and them being right on the day.
“He has slowly got better in his manners and his demeanour and he paraded a lot better today.
“I knew that he was travelling well and I just didn’t the right drag into the race and I got it.”
The Australian Cup had been the long-term goal for Humidor since the Weir stable purchased half of the horse and the leading Victorian trainer was clearly delighted to complete the plan with the Kiwi import.
Weir believes that Humidor still has another win left in him this preparation and he confirmed that the Australian Cup winner will head to Sydney for the Group 1 The BMW (2400m) in a fortnight.
“He has always shown good ability,” Weir said.
“The plan when we purchased half of the horse was to aim him towards the Australian Cup and see how far we got.
“It is nice that it has come off and he has just progressed nicely.
“It was a nice result today for everyone involved.
“The BMW is a nice race for him.
“There will be nice cut in the ground in Sydney and it is weight-for-age.
“Providing he goes home and does well we will be off to Sydney to try and get that winner up there.”
Jameka was extremely gallant in defeat and is also set to head to Sydney for The BMW, while third placegetter Exospheric did not have a great deal of luck and will also head in the same direction.
