Niccanova has produced a superior turn of foot to beat Sylpheed in the Group 3 Fred Best Classic (1400m) at Eagle Farm this afternoon; the final race on 2017 Darley Kingsford-Smith Classic Day.
James Orman piloted Niccanova to success in the Fred Best Classic at Eagle Farm this afternoon. Photo: Daniel Costello
Niccanova was settled off the early pace by jockey James Orman as Critical Thinking and Calanda set a noticeably quick tempo for the field and ensured that the Fred Best Classic would be run at a genuine tempo.
Caught behind horses rounding onto the final straight, the Nicconi gelding found a gap between runners and charged forward; locking in a fierce sprint battle with Sylpheed but managing to get the edge in the final 100m.
Orman completed a perfectly-timed ride aboard Sylpheed to win the Fred Best Classic and was pleased to deliver trainer Steve Tregea a black type win this afternoon.
“He’s a nice horse. I won his maiden on him and they thought he was going to be alright then, and they weren’t wrong,” Orman said.
“He’s got a heart, he tries and that’s what you want. He just kept coming – it was hard to make up ground today, so it was an even better sort of run.
“I was a long way back, but I got a little bit of luck from the gate which was what you needed here today.
“A credit to Steve for giving me the ride today, it’s what I really need to get the ball bouncing in my career again.”
Tregea was pleased with the three-year-olds performance for success in the Fred Best Classic and confirmed that the Group 2 Queensland Guineas (1600m) at Eagle Farm in a fortnight is his next campaign target.
“We just had a query on the track and I kept on looking and looking at it, but he handles it wet and he handled this track before and I just had to kept telling myself that the barrier (16) didn’t matter,” he said after the race.
“Last week it seemed to matter, but I just decided that it was worth rolling the dice.
‘He’s never come down the outside like that. He usually comes through the middle. I said to Jimmy that he could probably do anything with him, but he just hasn’t come down the outside. He kept coming today.
“That’s (Queensland Guineas) the plan.”
Niccanova has posted four wins and a minor through his five career starts so far.
