Brenton Avdulla has enjoyed a welcome change of luck with Godolphin’s Gaulois fighting back to score a tenacious win at Warwick Farm.
Avdulla had a testing start to the day when he was narrowly beaten aboard Bella Nipotina in the $2 million Inglis Millennium before his ride in the $1 million Inglis Sprint-3YOs, Heart Of The Oak, was scratched at the barrier.
But the jockey’s fortunes turned a race later when Gaulois rallied to win the Bowness Stud Mile (1600m) after appearing to be headed by eventual runner-up Hallelujah Boy.
The race was originally on Saturday’s washed out Warwick Farm program and Avdulla feared it would be cancelled, so he was delighted when it was rescheduled to midweek.
“First thoughts, I was a bit shattered when the races were off on the weekend because I didn’t think they’d reprogram this race,” Avdulla said.
“He was a good ride I was going to miss out on.
“I haven’t ridden him for a long time but I rode him as a two-year-old and won on him on a heavy (track), so I was confident I could ride him anywhere and he got the job done.”
Starting $3.60, Gaulois scored by a short head over Hallelujah Boy ($9.50) with Shared Ambition ($2.40 fav) another neck away.
European import Shared Ambition suffered his first defeat since joining the Chris Waller stable but lost no admirers, warming up late after he was walled up behind horses at the top of the straight.
Winning trainer James Cummings said Gaulois would be aimed at the Group Three Newcastle Newmarket (1400m) on March 6.