Qewy led from start to finish to record a tough victory in the 2016 Sandown Cup at Ladbrokes Park this afternoon.
Qewy led from start to finish to score a tough victory in the Ladbrokes Sandown Cup. Photo by: Ultimate Racing Photos
Qewy went into the Sandown Cup as a dominant favourite following his tough fourth in the Melbourne Cup and Kerrin McEvoy elected to take up the running in the early stages of the race.
Running out a strong 3200 metres was never going to be a problem for Qewy and he toughed it out the line in the final 200 metres to hold-off a flying Swacadelic, who hit the line strongly to finish second.
McEvoy steered Qewy to victory in the Group 3 Geelong Cup (2400m) at the start of his 2016 Spring Racing Carnival campaign and he was delighted to have secured another feature race win for the Godolphin operation.
“He has lovely mind, a lovely attitude and a nice big stride,” McEvoy said.
“He was nice and bright as I got on him, so I was pretty happy.
“Obviously coming off a nice fourth in the Melbourne Cup, it is always in the back of your mind that he has to back-up again over the two miles, but we were able to just get it our own way.
“There was a bit of a head breeze along the back straight, but he is a big strong bold fellow and he was able to get away with it.
“I just increased it from the 1000 as we hit the top turn and went full-ball from the 600 on.
“Full credit to the horse, he just kept picking up and when I have him a back-hander he tried again and tried even harder.
“His heart is really in the right place and as a jockey you love riding these horses because they just try so hard for you.”
Godolphin have dominated the staying ranks during the 2016 Spring Racing Carnival and the stable of Charlie Appleby will return to the United Kingdom with wins in the Geelong Cup, Bendigo Cup, Lexus Stakes, Queen Elizabeth Stakes and the Sandown Cup as well as a second place finish in the Caulfield Cup.
Stable representative James Ferguson has been delighted with his team’s spring and he said he is delighted with the way that Qewy has thrived in Australia.
“We could not have asked for more,” Ferguson said.
“The horses have all run really well and for him to go and win just tops it all off.
“He put in a great performance and he was given a great ride by Kerrin.
“He definitely had a hard race in the Melbourne Cup and he has pulled out all the stops today.
“The support from the whole racing community has been huge and he has become a bit of a favourite, which is great.
“All credit goes to the team back at home and the team here.
“We hope we come back soon and have a few winners next time that we come back.”
Swacadelic was only narrowly denied his first race win this preparation, while All I Survey was able to sneak into the placings at big odds.
