Image: Grant Courtney
Chinqui made a late surge to claim favorite in the Sportsbet More Places Handicap at Caulfield Heath.
Bringing in the weights and getting back on his preferred dry ground allowed Chinqui to return to winning form at Caulfield Heath.
Following the 2kg claim for apprentice Luke Cartwright, Chinqui received 8.5kg from the $1.80 favorite Beast Mode in the Sportsbet More Place Handicap.
That, combined with the dry track, allowed Chinqui ($8) to wear down Beast Mode in the closing stages and win by a short neck, while Codigo ($8) had the same margin in third.
James Peters, an assistant trainer at Anthony and Sam Freedman’s stable, said the team had drawn an end to the sprinter’s final run at Flemington on the final day of the Melbourne Cup Carnival.
“He didn’t drive a meter on that tough circuit, so he had to freshen up,” said Peters.
“He did really well the other day and we were confident because pace seems to be the way to go today and he had an inside draw.
“We also got a great lead on the favorite and he pricked up his ears and chased really hard.
“We had that eight kilo weight swing in our favor and we wanted to let that horse feel a little bit of early pressure by not wanting to shake hands right away.
“He was going quite fast and Luke used his brain, sat away from him, got a nice cart in the race and with the guts the horse showed, he really wanted to chase that other horse.”
Beast Mode had to do some work early on under Craig Williams to find the lead, but once out front he seemed to be traveling sweetly.
Williams turned for home and gave Beast Mode his head and it looked like the race was over.
However, during the last 100 meters the chasing pack started to close and those who had taken the short quote about Beast Mode started to feel nervous.
“It was pretty textbook what Beast Mode does,” Cartwright said.
“I hoped he would do a little to cross and I knew from the 600 meters that he would get on his bike himself.
“But I was able to suck him on his back and pull him out, but to be honest I didn’t think I was going to catch him until the last hundred meters.
“But because of the light weight he didn’t let go until late.”
The win over Chinqui gave Cartwright a double for the afternoon after previously scoring on Roadcone in the Magic Millions Digital Online Handicap (1500m).
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