Fronting running colt Farnan has secured his spot at the top of the 2020 Golden Slipper betting after an all the way win in the Group 2 $300,000 UNSW Todman Stakes (1200m) at Randwick today.
Farnan, above, was unchallenged to win the 2020 Todman Stakes at Randwick. Photo by Steve Hart.
Winning jockey Hugh Bowman took Farnan ($1.80 favourite) straight to the front from the jump in the six horse field and was never headed before going on to record a an unchallenged win.
Farnan is now the clear cut favourite for the Group 1 $3.5m Longines Golden Slipper (1200m) at Rosehill on March 21 with bookies at Ladbrokes.com.au rolling his price in from $8 to $5.
Blue Diamond Stakes winner Tagaloa ($3.80) was under heavy riding from Michael Walker well before the home turn but got down to his task in the straight to make up some ground on the winner to finish one and three quarters lengths in second spot with Blondeau ($20) almost three lengths back in third spot.
Bowman had Farnan travelling sweetly in front on the soft 7 rated track and held up the Not A Single Doubt colt until the 300m when he released the brakes.
Farnan was virtually unextended and the Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott trained colt is now the one to beat in the Golden Slipper in a fortnight.
“He is certainly the right horse to take us there (to the Golden Slipper),” co-trainer Adian Bott said.
“He has put two strong, dominant performances together. He has shown his true professionalism today, his great asset is he has great barrier speed, great tactical speed and can sustain a strong tempo throughout. He showed good acceleration at the top of the straight and can put them away quickly and is the right colt to take us there.”
“That is why he’s here today. It is the right lead up for him, the right path to take, he needed that strong 1200m lead up run today. It’s the right path for all the good colts we’ve had and he’s right up there with the best of them and produced a performance like that and is the deserving favourite heading into the race.”
Farnan is now the winner of four of his five race starts with his only defeat being a tenth in the $2m The Star Gold Coast Magic Millions 2yo Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast on January 11.
“That was the one race we’ve had to put that behind us. Outside of that he’s been the ultimate professional for us,” Bott said.
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