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Apache Cat wins Doomben 10,000!
Apache Cat captured the Group I BTC Doomben 10,000 on Saturday to register his fifth unbeaten start this year, making it five Group Is in a row.
Apache Cat was unstoppable in the straight when he turned on the power and left his rivals eating his dust.
He won by 4¾ lengths from early pacemaker Murtajill, while the Johannesburg colt Turffontein came in to take third, a half-length away.
Apache Cat finished the 1350m in 1min 17.99 seconds. This was nine-tenths outside the track record. He finished the final 600m in 33.37 seconds.
Apache Cat's win at Doomben Racecourse came six days after last year's Doomben 10,000 winner, Takeover Target, cracked the course record at Singapore 's Kranji racecourse to take out the Group I Krisflyer (1200m).
Apache Cat has added two more Group Is to his record in the meantime, while Takeover Target has again mixed it with international competition for a track record Group I win.
Both, therefore, are entitled to upward movement in the rankings.
Earlier, Apache Cat had flirted with losing the opportunity of winning at Doomben Racecourse due to a blood sample saga that developed from early last Monday.
Trainer Greg Eurell routinely collects blood samples from Apache Cat for laboratory testing to assist in his fitness reading of the gelding.
Concerns were raised early in the week because the test results went back to Eurell with what he read as erratic, imbalanced levels.
Extra samples were taken for further testing, then more for confirmatory testing at the Melbourne clinic, at which Eurell has all his samples from horses form his Cranbourne stables tested.
The first batch went missing in transit by air courier from the Gold Coast to Melbourne and Apache Cat was stuck with extra needles to draw blood for testing.
All samples tested were normal, bar the first one on Monday. There have been suggestions that the Monday sample was completely out of whack because it was tested as originating from a cat, not a horse, and procedures for the animals are somewhat different. |
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