John Allen along with the Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young team combined for success in the Group 3 Caulfield Classic (2000m), as Sunsets (+1400) clung on to victory, holding off the short-priced favourite, Riff Rocket (-357.14).
It comes as a shock to most punters, as Sunsets was well beaten by Riff Rocket last start in the Listed Super Impose Stakes on October 7; however, the son of Dundeel was able to turn the tables courtesy of a timely steer from senior jockey John Allen.
They went at a muddling tempo on speed as Tokyo Run (+6000) elected to lead under Opie Bosson, allowing Sunsets to drift across and sit outside the leader under his own steam.
He was there to be beaten though, as Riff Rocket loomed the victor as they turned for home under James McDonald, the odds-on favourite was simply unable to head Sunsets in the shadows of the post.
It's left the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) a wide-open edition, with Riff Rockets defeat likely to shuffle the market significantly heading into the feature on November 4.
2023 Caulfield Classic Replay – Sunsets | T: Trent Busuttin & Natalie Young | J: John Allen
Co-trainer Natalie Young spoke about her three-year-old colt post-race and confirmed the team will press on to seek Group 1 glory in two weeks time.
“He'll definitely get further,” said Young.
“This is the most relaxed colt you'll come across. He goes to sleep in the stalls and gets here on race day and doesn't work himself up. He brings his A-game.
“Don't you love it when you've got a live Derby chance.”
John Allen assessed the speed of the race expertly and mentioned the slowly run race definitely helped Sunsets find on the wire.
“He was quick out of the gates,” said Allen.
“There wasn't a lot of speed in the race and the plan was to roll forward, hopefully sit outside of the leader and it panned out that way.
“There was no pressure. He always travelled comfortably. He gave a good kick on the corner.
“The runner-up was there to probably beat him in the home straight but over the last 100 (metres) he really toughed it out.”
Sunsets is now listed as a +600 chance in futures markets for the Group 1 Victoria Derby (2500m) on November 4.