While the Sydney stable were enjoying a rare Saturday off following the washout at Rosehill, the Melbourne arm of Hawkes Racing has been firing on all cylinders.
Following on from the amazing victory of Masked Crusader in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes at Moonee Valley on Friday night, the 6yo import Mount Popa (IRL) earned a golden ticket to the Caufield Cup with an all-the-way win in the $350,000 Listed Mornington Cup (2000m).
Like Masked Crusader, Mount Popa (IRE) was ridden by the ‘Wizard Of The West’, William Pike.
Admitting that he was hoping to get a trail, Pike was gifted an uncontested lead.
Gradually winding up at the 600m, Mount Popa (IRE) kept up a strong gallop in the straight to defeat the Grahame Begg-trained Nonconformist (Rebel Raider) by two and three-quarter lengths with Irish Flame (Zed) further two lengths back in third.
The 6yo gelded son of Maxios (GB) has been a model of consistency. He was never out of a place in ten starts in France when trained by Pascal Bary for the Niarchos family.
Purchased for €200,000 at the 2019 Arqana Autumn Sale in Deauville, Mount Popa was coming off a win in Sydney in the Listed Randwick City Stakes.
"Willie didn’t want to lead, really,” Wayne Hawkes said.
“He wasn’t cornering like a greyhound but when you run those sectionals, you’re not running that quickly. He just quickened, quickened, it was beautiful to watch.
"We’ve got a couple of staying horses that are up and going. This bloke and Master Of Wine were immature. I took Master Of Wine to a Sunday (race) at Sale and he reared up in the barriers and scratched. It was a long way home on that Sunday afternoon.
"This bloke will be going to the paddock. He’s got his golden ticket into the Caulfield Cup.
“You’ve got to let them tell you (what to do next) because no matter what their form is we just look at it as a blank canvas. We look at the physical and see how they are and he only had one run left in him, which was today. It all worked out perfectly.”
A half-brother to the Listed stakes-winner Unnefer (Danehill Dancer), Mount Popa is one of five winners for the Silver Hawk mare Mimalia, a half-sister to the Epsom Derby hero Kris Kin (Kris S).
Mount Popa is one of three stakes-winners for Coolmore Stud’s Monsun stallion Maxios (GB).
