Ciaron Maher & David Eustace have taken out their third Bart Cummings in four years with Future History (+900) booking his place in the 2023 Melbourne Cup on the first Tuesday in November.
Craig Williams couldn’t have ridden the son of Showcasing much better after jumping well and finding the lead without doing too much work, before leading every step of the 2500m journey to win the Group 3 contest at Flemington.
When the field rounded the home turn, Williams allowed his mount to quicken, and he dropped off Shaiyhar (+1600) to put up a couple of lengths on Serpentine (+1400) and Alaskan God (+1400) who challenged at the 300m mark.
At the 200m mark, the race favourite, First Immortal (+260), let down with a blistering turn of foot and appeared as though he was going to run straight past the eventual winner.
However, once Future History felt the horse on his outside, he found another gear and pulled away from the favourite in the final strides to claim a tough, all-the-way victory.
David Eustace represented the Maher & Eustace stable, and he spoke post-race after another success in the Bart Cummings.
“It was great from both horses, I thought Ashrun was great from the back as well,” Eustace said.
“I thought Craig (Williams) gave him a great ride and got the fractions absolutely spot on.
“I will have a chat with the boss, but I think he will probably go straight in (to the Melbourne Cup).
“He’s been in work a long time this horse.”
Criag Williams brought up his second win on Turnbull Stakes Day after riding Bodyguard to victory earlier in the day.
“Confidence that I had a big, fit horse,” Williams said of his exhibition ride on Future History on Sunday at Sandown.
“I got a big understanding of his mannerisms.
“I thought that if anything got close to him, he would be able to hold it and beat it, and he saw that her when Levi & Mark Kavanaghs really progressive four-year-old horse challenged him.
“He’s a deserved winner of the golden ticket into the Melbourne Cup and he was very dominant today.”
Future History is now a +2500 chance in the Melbourne Cup futures market with online bookmakers.