Clinton McDonald and Ben Melham have combined with Star Patrol (+340) clinging to victory in the Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality (1200m) at Flemington, Australia on Saturday afternoon.
It was race setup by tremendous pace on-speed as Najem Suhail (+550) sent forward, running his own race down the centre of the Flemington straight.
It left the near-side group chasing a long way out, with Star Patrol the first to get on the bunny and kick clear.
King Of Sparta (+500) and Benedetta (+160) were storming in behind with 200m to go; however, it was all to no avail with Star Patrol a game winner of the Group 2 feature.
2023 Group 2 Bobbie Lewis Quality Replay – Star Patrol | T: Clinton McDonald | J: Ben Melham
It's been a hard task for trainer Clinton McDonald getting Star Patrol back to the races for the first time since disappointing in the Group 1 Newmarket Handicap (1200m) over 189 days ago.
He spoke on behalf of his team post-race and gave a glowing assessment of his five-year-old gelding, expecting to tackle Group 1 company again at some stage in the preparation.
“It was a bloody long straight,” said McDonald.
“They were burning along up front weren't they?
“Those horses dropped off and he was left there a fair while out, so for a first-up run it was great effort.
“He'll come on from that and that race will give him a lot of confidence, and he'll be a happy horse.
“We've got to be realistic with him.
“We'll go to the Gilgai next and then we'll reassess him after that.”
Ben Melham spoke to the toughness of Star Patrol as well and thinks it might be best to space his runs in the future.
“It's good to see him come back in the form he showed early,” said Melham.
“He's a quality galloper and I think Clinton's (McDonald) really on top of him now and he's been working well.
“He just seems to be going a lot better, just letting him build when he wants to build. He pulls you around a lot you just got to go with him.
“First-up, he's going to sleep well tonight and probably needs some time between runs, but he got the job done today.”