By Peter Quilty
Unsung heroine Blazing Cartier rewrote the script in Thursday night’s heats of the Group 1 RSN Sandown Cup (over 715 metres).
Trainer Robert Britton is now chasing his third Sandown Cup win in four years after Blazing Cartier won her heat in clockwork style. He scored with Fanta Bale in 2017 and Tornado Tears in 2018, with Tornado Tears finishing seventh in last year’s final.
Ironically, it was five-time Group 1 winner Tornado Tears and his younger full brother – Sandown 715-metre track record holder Here’s Tears – who were considered Britton’s mainstays. But Blazing Cartier came up with precision timing in Heat 3.
Noted as a come-from-behind stayer, Blazing Cartier set the scene by jumping straight to the lead before being challenged early by latest staying find, Mister Harlewood.
But the superior stamina of Blazing Cartier ($9.50) came to the fore and she streaked away with an effortless win over Zoom Top winner Just Terms ($11.00) with Mister Harlewood ($1.40) fading for third in 41.93 seconds.
A three-time Group 1 finalist, Blazing Cartier registered her 13th win from 48 starts.
Well, if the third heat was a surprise, then Heat 4 was a major upset.
Sentimental favourite Tornado Tears was resuming after a 110-day let-up but was still expected to reach his third successive Sandown Cup final.
But in a roughhouse affair, Bronski Beat ($16.20) skipped away with an unassailable lead to win by 9.8 lengths over Zipping Clifford ($11.40) with Tornado Tears ($4.20) third in 42.07 seconds. Submission finished fourth, 10.8 lengths from the winner, while last year’s winner Rajasthan was sixth – beaten by 15.4 lengths.
Trained at Lara by Brenda Pursell, Bronski Beat registered his ninth – and so far most important – win from 29 starts.
Punters rallied for the enigmatic, but potentially freakish, Here’s Tears in Heat 1.
During this year’s Australian Cup Carnival at The Meadows, Here’s Tears won the Group 1 Fanta Bale Super Stayers (over 725 metres) and finished second in the Zoom Top (725 metres).
But it was the Andrea Dailly-trained Rockstar Beav which prevailed. It was his 19th win from 71 starts, and his fourth win from his past six starts.
A dual Group 1 finalist, Rockstar Beav ($4.50) defeated He Shall Power ($4.40) by 1.4 lengths with Here’s Tears a further 1.8 lengths away third in 41.69 seconds.
Front-running staying star True Detective went ‘coast-to-coast’ in Heat 2.
Trained by Jeff Britton, True Detective ($2.90) was never in doubt, defeating Ella Enchanted ($6.30) by 4.7 lengths with Renewed ($33.40) a further 4.2 lengths away third in 41.88 seconds.
A three-time Group 1 finalist, True Detective notched his 22nd win from 38 starts. It was his eighth win in 10 starts from Box 1, and his fourth win from eight starts over Sandown’s 715-metre trip.
The Jamie Ennis-trained Ella Enchanted has now made consecutive Sandown Cup finals. Last year, she finished runner-up to Rajasthan.
