Joe Pride’s rising star Attica ($4) has shrugged off a wide gate to capture the Group 1 Spring Champion Stakes in thrilling fashion at Randwick.
Ridden superbly by Adam Hyeronimus, the Lonhro colt finished with a powerful surge to edge out favourite Shangri La Boy ($3.20F) by a short neck, with The Pearls ($21) filling third place a further 2½ lengths back. Rank outsider Tambeloa ($201) stuck on gamely for fourth after leading.
It marks an extraordinary achievement for Attica, who only made his debut in September and has now secured Group 1 glory at just his fourth start.
Pride was glowing in his assessment of the youngster and expects even bigger things in the seasons ahead.
“Spring Champion is a very nice race, a group one, but there’s still a lot to be done with this horse,” Pride said.
“Bear in mind it’s his first preparation, the manner of that win I thought he had too much to do at the furlong.
“Chasing the favourite, but just the way he pinned his ears back and attacked the line. Two-thousand metres no problem.”
Hyeronimus admitted he had an inside understanding of the danger posed by runner-up Shangri La Boy after partnering him in recent weeks and galloping him during the build-up.
“I’ve ridden the second horse and I didn’t know if Adrian (Bott) was trying to play mind games with me, but I galloped it through the week and I know how good he is going,” Hyeronimus said.
“To my horse’s credit, he was always picking him up.
“The final one hundred and fifty metres I had them covered and he was too strong late.”
Following his breakthrough win, Attica will now head to the paddock for a well-earned break before returning for major autumn assignments.
“He’ll go straight to the paddock now, he’s just a really exciting horse,” Pride said.
“It would be nice to see if we can get him a bit sharper in the autumn and aim up at races like the Randwick Guineas, but we’ll worry about all of that later on.”
For those wanting to bet on races like the Spring Champion Stakes, visit leading Australian betting sites such as Sportsbet, Ladbrokes or TAB.
