Having been narrowly excluded from the Melbourne Cup field by just one position, Pinhole capitalised on his chance in the Queen Elizabeth Stakes to firmly establish himself as a stayer with a bright future in Australian racing.
The horse was ranked 25th in the order of entry for last Tuesday’s 3200-metre feature, won by Point Of Law, and thus did not feature in the 24-runner field.
All that was put aside as the $2.60 favourite, Pinhole, descended upon race leader Defiantly at the 300-metre mark and drew away to win by 2¾ lengths. The placings were taken by outsiders Manzor Blue ($41) in second and Torranzino ($26) in third.
“He’s a bright, bright stayer of the future,” winning trainer Chris Waller remarked.
“He was a good winner at Caulfield two starts ago, and then last start he had no luck at all. So he’s a really promising horse, and it’s all about getting him to the I guess the Cup for next year. It’s a good step forward. He’ll be qualified and we just have to find the best path for him now.”
Trainer Chris Waller and jockey James McDonald both agreed that the UK-import settled more effectively this time compared to his seventh-place finish in the Group 2 Moonee Valley Cup (2500m) a fortnight ago.
“He was really good (and) he relaxed a lot better too,” McDonald said.
“He’s still a young progressive stayer. He probably should have been in the race on Tuesday, but there will be plenty of time.”
Defiantly, trained by Joseph O’Brien and also denied a Melbourne Cup start by stewards’ orders, finished fourth after dictating terms in front for two-thirds of the race.
Jockey Dylan Browne McMonagle commented that the five-year-old gelding showed too much speed from the start, and that he is better suited to longer race distances.
The mare Makybe Diva famously won the Queen Elizabeth Stakes in 2002 before winning her first of three Melbourne Cups twelve months later.
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