Restrepo found the front and outpaced a quality field to claim a second country cup in four starts, albeit some 22 months apart.
Emma Stewart and Clayton Tonkin’s eight-year-old won the United Petroleum Yarra Valley Pacing Cup today, upstaging some of the nation’s finest talent to signal his return to the grand stage.
Driver Chris Alford placed the Art Major entire in front and then controlled the race, with slow first (32.3) and second (31.1) quarters helping the front runner to come home in 53.9 for the last 800m and win by 2.9m from favourite Hectorjayjay.
“He’s a brilliant horse and it was good to get him back on the track,” Tonkin said.
The long road back from a knee fracture was made all the more agonising when a foot abscess delayed the initial plan to have Restrepo return on October 8, which Tonkin said was “devastating”.
“He did all the rehab and he was finally ready to race, and for something small like a foot abscess to set him back was shattering.”
But the anguish was finally set aside this afternoon in the Group 3 $30,000 feature, when Stewart’s team had four of the eight runners including reigning Trots Country Cups Champion Yankee Rockstar and highly-rated Guaranteed.
With the exception of Major Secret, all of Stewart and Tonkin’s other entrants were fresh in their preparations en route to Perth’s $1.8 million Inter Dominion. It meant there was much uncertainty, particularly with Inter Dominion favourite Hectorjayjay drawn the second row for David and Josh Aiken.
“(Restrepo) had the good barrier and so I was confident he’d run a really good race,” Tonkin said. “I didn’t know what would happen early in the race. (We put them all in because) there were only two races to run before Perth and they were all a little underdone.
“Guaranteed is a big stallion and takes time, Yankee Rockstar was a run short in Maryborough and Major Secret drew the best of all of them.”
But, with Tonkin’s four perched at the front in the running and Aiken happy to wait midfield with Hectorjayjay, Restrepo was able to get away with a treacle pace.
“There was a lot of class in the field but it was a weird race because there was not a lot of pressure on,” Tonkin said. “It was good for Restrepo, but I thought Hectorjayjay might have got out and stepped up outside him to pick up the pace.”
Aiken didn’t advance three-wide until the start of the back straight and while he loomed up, Alford grabbed a break around the final turn and maintained that to the line to win in a 2:00.1 mile rate, with Hectorjayjay second ahead of a close line of Major Secret (third), Guaranteed (fourth) and Yankee Rockstar (fifth).
“I think Yankee Rockstar’s run was super and I was also happy with Guaranteed, who will benefit from the run and ran on good despite suffering a flat tyre,” Tonkin said.
“Restrepo’s won a Ballarat Cup and a Coca Cola Sprint and taken on the best throughout his whole career. They have 12 months off and people can forget how good they are.”
He said, depending on how they pulled up from the run, the Perth-bound trio would all likely run in the free for all at Bendigo on Friday night or the Smoken Up Sprint at Tabcorp Park Melton on November 12 before flying to Perth.
With his second placing, Hectorjayjay took a clear lead in the 2016-17 Trots Country Cups Championship, which this year carries a $25,000 prize. Click here for the standings.
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