It could be onto âThe Championshipsâ in April for the Matthew Dale-trained Rocket Commander who made a late lunge on the line in Sydney on Saturday to take out the 2017 Wenona Girl Handicap.
Rocket Commander dug deep late for a narrow Group 3 win in the 2017 Wenona Girl Handicap on Randwick Guineas Day. Photo: Steve Hart.
The fit mare going into the Royal Randwick clash, Court Command five-year-old Rocket Commander enjoyed her first success since August last year in the $150,000 Group 3 Wenona Girl Handicap (1200m).
Ridden by Tommy Berry from near the inside, the last start Mannerism Stakes fifth placegetter in Melbourne was up on the pace throughout returning to Randwick for the first time since her Group 3 Triscay Stakes (1200m) sixth behind Zestful on February 13.
With the Caulfield run on Ladbrokes Blue Diamond Stakes Day last Saturday, Rocket Commander was on the quick back-up in the Wenona Girl Handicap and came back from 57kg to 54.5kg.
Berry had her settled second behind the Anthony Cummings-trained pacesetter Hieroglyphics, chasing a third win on the trot, in the early stages.
Rocket Commander moved up to lead in the middle of the track at the 800m, while the Triscay Stakes winner Zestful was racing in third deeper on the course.
Hieroglyphics was being hard-ridden by the âMagic Manâ Joao Moreira on the rails once on the straight, while Nancy was starting to run on from further back in the field.
The Peter & Paul Snowden-trained Triscay Stakes runner-up Nancy was really letting loosen the outside, while Hieroglyphics looked to be going strongly in the middle.
After seemingly dropping out of contention, Rocket Commander picked up again in a truly tough performance flashing home in a photo finish and just snaring the win by the bob of the head on the inside of Hieroglyphics.
The big lunge on the line was enough to stop Hieroglyphics from going all-the-way, while the Wenona Girl Handicap trifecta was rounded out by the always honest Kris Lees-trained Zestful.
Rocket Commander is in the nominations for the $1 million Group 1 Queen Of The Turf Stakes (1600m) back at Royal Randwick on April 8 and could run on March 25 leading up to that in the Group 2 Emancipation Stakes (1500m) at Rosehill should Dale press on with the mare.
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2017 Wenona Girl Handicap Results & Finishing Order
Randwick Race 4 â 04/03/2017
| Place | # | Horse | Trainer | Jockey | Margin | Br. | Wgt. | SP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 | ROCKET COMMANDER | Matthew Dale | Tommy Berry | – | 2 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $6 |
| 2 | 6 | HIEROGLYPHICS | Anthony Cummings | Joao Moreira | 0.1L | 1 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $3.80F |
| 3 | 3 | ZESTFUL | Kris Lees | Jason Collett | 0.5L | 5 | 57kg (cd 58.5kg) | $5.50 |
| 4 | 1 | NANCY | Peter & Paul Snowden | Blake Shinn | 1.6L | 9 | 58kg (cd 59.5kg) | $6.50 |
| 5 | 9 | QUEEN OF KARIBA | Joseph Pride | Jay Ford | 2.1L | 7 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $8.50 |
| 6 | 5 | SERENE MAJESTY | Peter & Paul Snowden | Kerrin McEvoy | 3.3L | 8 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $7 |
| 7 | 8 | ALUCINARI | John O’Shea | Tim Clark | 3.6L | 4 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $18 |
| 8 | 10 | MAGIC OF DREAMS | Kris Lees | Corey Brown | 7L | 3 | 54.5kg (cd 56kg) | $21 |
| 9 | 2 | SAVOUREUX | Kris Lees | Brenton Avdulla | 12.2L | 6 | 57kg (cd 58.5kg) | $17 |
| – | 7 | FRILL SEEKING | Matthew Smith | Andrew Adkins (a) | – | 0 | – | – |