Five Straight For Sertorius

Saturday, 10 November 2012 02:14

SertoriusSertorius took his winning sequence to five in a row by leading all the way in the Antler Luggage Handicap at Flemington this afternoon.

With regular rider Ryan Maloney aboard, Sertorius ($2.70-$3.50-$3.30F) made short work of his opposition beating Hoylonny ($3.50-$3.40-$3.50) and Turnitup.

"It's only my third ride of the carnival so it's made it very memorable", Maloney said.

Today was Sertorius first try at a distance greater than 1600 metres but as a son of Epsom Derby winner Galileo, it was always likely that he would get a trip. Virtual FormGuide statistics for Galileo show a 14-16% strike rate in races more than 1600m.

Maloney had his doubts before the race:

"Over that trip he was probably questionable whether he was going to do it but he was never in doubt once I let him go."

Sertorius"When I won on him at Moonee Valley and then at Caulfield I had to put three (cracks of the whip) around his tail to get him going but today when they came at him he just found another gear and was too good."

Pre-race plans saw co-trainer Jamie Edwards leaving the riding tactics up to Maloney.

"The problem was always going to be the speed in the race and when a couple of horses came out we didn't really know what we were going to do so we completely left it up to Ryan and he did a great job."

"That's probably the first time he has actually led a race, he usually has a bunny to follow but it's great to see that he is quite adaptable".

Edwards is not sure whether to press on with Sertorius which has now won more than $300,000 for connections.

"We thought he was at his peak today so whether there is another run left in him we are not really sure", he said.

"He'll either be straight to the paddock or we'll have a look at the Ballarat Cup in a couple of weeks, but we'll just see how he pulls up."

The best performed horse in the Jamie Edwards/Bruce Elkington stable at Freshwater Creek near Geelong.

"He is just a ripper of a horse and I'm just rapt to have a horse going this well over the carnival", Edwards said.

Photos: Quentin Lang