Trainer Anthony Cummings praised the ride of Blake Shinn who landed his first Group winner since his return to the saddle late last year aboard Upbeat in Saturday’s Autumn Classic at Caulfield.
Shinn, who had been disqualified for a year for gambling on horseracing and was sidelined for longer than that after breaking his leg in a race fall on Melbourne Cup day at Flemington in 2010, was at his brilliant best in the 1800m Group Two race.
“I think a lot of what happened today was about Blake’s ride,” Cummings said.
Shinn played down the ride on the Strategic gelding who he had parked outside race leader King’s Shilling from a wide gate.
Upbeat ($13) sprinted clear when asked and held on to score by three-quarters of a length from Flashy Fella ($101) with maiden Ethiopia ($26) the same margin away third.
“The race couldn’t have scripted out any better,” Shinn said.
“There was no speed on paper and he’s an on-speed horse with the blinkers on for the first time.
“We controlled the tempo up front and I went a little bit early but I had a lapful of horse at the 600 metres and it was a strong effort.”
The three-year-old was backing up a week after finishing fourth to Hardbreak Hotel in a Benchmark 85 (1600m) against older horses at Warwick Farm.
“The other day he was a little bit tentative in the field, as some of the younger horses will do it against the older ones, so I think to let him be more aggressive in the field we put the blinkers on,” Cummings said.
“The barrier (nine of 11) was our only issue and I really thought we had a great chance coming here.
“The horse was easily the fittest in the field and that was the major attraction for us.
“He actually came into the field as a late nomination as we had originally planned to run him in Sydney.
“He either had to come back in distance or go up and the race was here, a Group Two, and the horse was fit so it made some sense for us.”
Cummings said Upbeat could stay on in Melbourne for the Group Two Alister Clark Stakes (2040m) under lights at Moonee Valley on March 16.