The famous colours associated with an Australian racing icon have triumphed in a $1 million event at Caulfield.
Big Wigs overcame the outside barrier to charge along the outer section of the Caulfield straight and secure the Showdown (1200m) on Saturday.
The Phillip Stokes-trained colt sported the silks immortalised by three-time Melbourne Cup champion Makybe Diva, who passed away two weeks earlier after suffering from colic.
Aboard was Lachlan Neindorf, as Big Wigs ($3.70) resisted the persistent challenge from $3.10 favourite Miss Chanel to prevail by a half-head, while Knurl ($10) finished third, a further 5-¼ lengths behind.
The jockey of Miss Chanel, Jordan Childs, reviewed the head-on footage of the contest prior to the declaration of correct weight.
Tommy Stokes, standing in for his father Phillip, described the outcome as an outstanding achievement in the Santic silks.
Phillip Stokes honed his training skills initially in South Australia, as Santic rose to prominence as the tuna fisherman from the South Australian port town of Port Lincoln.
“It means a lot to have these colours aboard,” Tommy Stokes said.
“Mr Santic is here on course today and he’s brought a whole heap of owners with him. It’s a massive prize money race and it’s a race we targeted for a fairly long time. He’s been to Adelaide, he’s come back, we thought he’d be winning at Ballarat, but he ran into a smart one, but he’s been able to hold himself nicely here and Lachie summed it up perfectly.”
In spite of the wide gate, Neindorf entered the mounting yard before the race with a strategy in mind.
“I think we were all a bit worried when the barrier draw came out, but it was a blessing in disguise in the end because we had all the three main dangers drawn inside of us,” Neindorf said.
“I wasn’t sure where they were going to be but I was confident that I would end up on the back of one of them and I was confident that my horse had a good turn of foot and the extra rise in distance was going to suit him that little bit more. To be honest, I probably still let him go a little bit early. I probably could have straightened up and held onto him for an extra 50 metres before putting him through his gears because, jeez, he got there fast, but full credit to the runner-up, it was tough. I was really worried the last 50 (metres) that she was going to come back and almost get me on the line again.”
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