Think It Over kept his impressive winning streak alive, as he recorded a dominant victory in the Group 2 Apollo Stakes (1400m) at Royal Randwick on Saturday.
The Kerry Parker-trained gelding won three consecutive races during the Sydney Spring Carnival, which took his career prizemoney beyond $4 million.
The six-year-old was quite easy in betting, getting out to $7.50 in the feature, before being supported right before they jumped.
With a breakneck tempo set by I Am Superman and Riodini, Think It Over was gifted a terrific run in transit under Nash Rawiller, despite having drawn barrier 10.
“You could tell Tommy (aboard I Am Superman) was going to try and use his fitness to his advantage,” Rawiller said.
“You are in a Catch 22 – I’m on the best horse who we know is certainly not wound up for this race, but he was ready to do his job.
“It’s exciting to be on him when they do that. He was more confident than me at the 600m. I was still worried what was behind us. The horse just trotted along behind them.”
“He travelled like the winner. I’ve watched it before on TV after a race. May have had a scotch in my hand that night but he looks like Kingston Town coming into a race, just a beautiful horse.”
The Apollo Stakes attracted a star-studded field, with brilliant runs from Colette (2nd) and Australian Horse of the Year, Verry Elleegant (7th) who was first-up since her spectacular Melbourne Cup victory.
“She has come back great. Looking forward to her second up,” Verry Elleegant’s rider James McDonald said.
A number of these runners are likely to clash again throughout the Sydney Autumn Carnival, with the Queen Elizabeth Stakes a likely target for them all.
“His main goal, like everyone else, is the Queen Elizabeth, you’ve got to target that,” Kerry Parker said of Think It Over.
“He will come back in a couple of weeks and run in the Chipping Norton and then we’ll work out whether we go to the Ranvet and come in that way.”
Verry Elleegant is the current $3 favourite for the Chipping Norton Stakes on February 26 at Royal Randwick, while Think It Over firmed from $9 into $3.70 second favourite for the 1600m Group 1.