Promising gelding Yorkshire bounced back from a minor health scare to claim the Group Three Festival Stakes at Rosehill, a result that trainer John O’Shea openly described as a welcome bonus.
Sent out favourite in The Hunter (1300m) first-up, Yorkshire was eased down after failing to finish off and later diagnosed with cardiac arrhythmia.
O’Shea spent the week reassuring punters that the gelding had recovered, though he also stressed the horse might still be short of peak fitness for the Festival Stakes (1500m).
But a perfectly judged front-running ride from Zac Lloyd changed the script, and Yorkshire produced a determined win that sets him up beautifully for his summer grand final in next month’s The Ingham (1600m).
“I thought one of the contributing factors with what happened to him at Newcastle, was he was unsaddled behind the gates, and he got a little upset,” O’Shea said.
“He got out of his rhythm and all those things probably contributed to what wasn’t a good day for him.
Today, we were mindful we had our T’s crossed, our I’s dotted in terms of our preparation before the race.
We were confident we’d gone through the process to get him back. I was surprised he was able to control the race like he did, but that was the key to winning.”
Jumping from barrier one, Lloyd sent Yorkshire ($2.70 fav) straight to the lead, where he travelled sweetly before holding off the late surge of Arctic Glamour ($8.50), who closed strongly to cut the margin to a neck. Melody Again ($31) finished another short neck away in third.
The win brought up a treble for Lloyd and his second black type success of the day after guiding Flying For Fun home in the Listed Starlight Stakes (1100m).
However, his afternoon ended on a sour note with a careless riding suspension out of his victory aboard Lyles, though he will be free to return in time for The Ingham.
Trainer Gerald Ryan was thrilled with the effort of Arctic Glamour, who continued her rise after winning the Hot Danish Stakes, and now gets her chance to challenge Yorkshire again at Randwick.
“I know The Ingham is going to be harder, but we’ll have a crack at it. She is going really well,” Ryan said.
Earlier on the card, 2023 Australian Derby winner Major Beel claimed the Listed ATC Cup (2000m), securing just his second win since taking out the classic.
Co-trainer Adrian Bott said the gelding had been searching for more ground after two solid mile runs.
“He has been quite consistent in his form, but he does need the right conditions to break through,” Bott said.
“The key is just getting out to 2000 metres today and aided by a lovely ride by Rachel (King), things fell into place nicely for him.”
Major Beel is now expected to head to next month’s Summer Cup, with runner-up Shangri La Spring also a possible starter.
For punters considering a wager on Yorkshire’s upcoming races such as The Ingham, the top-rated Australian betting sites can be compared at Australia’s best betting sites list.
