Booker has produced another outstanding first-up performance to beat a quality field in this afternoon’s Group 3 Kevin Hayes Stakes (1200m) at Caulfield.
Booker showed plenty of ability through her Spring Carnival preparation and she has subsequently been set for some big black type targets this time.
Jumping from the gates well, the daughter of Written Tycoon was allowed to stride forward by jockey Dwayne Dunn and immediately took up the running; setting a reasonable tempo in transit for her rivals.
Kicking clear upon arriving at the final straight, Booker opened a gap of up to two-and-a-half lengths with 200m to travel and sustained to the line well to hold off a strong sprint from $20-shot Leather’N’Lace.
Race favourite Shoals was extremely flat and produced nothing of a sprint in the final straight; tailing off to finish last, while Tulip weathered a tough run in transit before finishing fourth.
Dunn delivered a perfectly-timed ride aboard Booker to win the Kevin Hayes Stakes and is confident that she will only improve off the performance.
“She’s done plenty of work for this, she’s had a couple of nice trials and a couple of nice gallops, so we were really happy with the way she was going,” Dunn said.
“She presented really nicely to have a go at the Thousand Guineas last time and we thought, well why not have a crack at it, but she pulled up with a bit of an injury and it was probably just a step too far.
“You only get one crack at three-year-old Group 1s, so she may just stay sprinting this time.
“It wasn’t my intention to be the leader today, but she got there, backed-up nicely and kicked clear. These are probably the best fillies in Australia at the minute and that was like a Group 1 race, so it was nice to come out on top.”
Co-trainer Matt Ellerton was pleased with Booker’s performance and hopes she remains fit for the entire Autumn Carnival.
“Dwayne controlled the race and she probably cornered a bit better than she did in the spring too, she was terrific really,” he said.
“She’s a pretty impressive sort of filly now, so hopefully she pulls up well and we’ll just keep going with her.”
Booker may progress into a genuine light-weight Newmarket Handicap horse this time and she is currently available at $21 odds in our futures market.