What often appears to be a match race on paper rarely turns out that way, but the pride of Queensland Alligator Blood and the New Zealand champion Catalyst turned on a race for the ages in Saturday’s Group III C S Hayes Stakes at Flemington.
Ryan Maloney had no hesitation in taking the gelded son of All Too Hard to the front with James McDonald parking Catalyst on his outside and it was thrilling two horse race from there on.
Every time it looked as if Catalyst had his measure, Alligator Blood kept kicking back and he worried the New Zealand champion out of it in the last few strides.
The wining margin was a half head with a length back to Godolphin’s progressive Medaglia d’Oro colt Chenier who was making just his third start and his first in ten months. He looks capable of matching it with the best three-year-olds around.
It was the ninth win in 10 starts for Alligator Blood who has banked $2,205,084.
“It feels like a Group 1, I couldn’t be more proud of this horse,” Maloney said.
“After we went a furlong, I said to James McDonald ‘it’s a match race’.
“We got away with some cheap sectionals, I was trying to pinch it from the 600m. I’ve got a lot of respect for Catalyst, I know you can’t really get a guide on their form lines, but the times he’s been running and the manner he’d been doing it, I knew it was going to be a big test today and he was headed multiple times but he is true to his name.”
Winning trainer David Vandyke praised his horse’s courage.
“I was looking at the sectionals and I saw that they were going along and I thought, ‘gee whiz he’s going to have to be good to win this’ and when Catalyst got to him I thought we’re going to run second,” Vandyke said.
“The time they ran in the final 400m was incredible and they were going stride for stride. When he just got to the edge that last 50 metres and showed his class, I thought wow, that’s his best performance.
Now we're looking forward to the Australian Guineas. They are a couple of stars, those two."
All three placegetters are likely to meet again in the Group 1 Australian Guineas.
Bred by Gerry Harvey, Alligator Blood was a $55,000 Magic Millions purchase by Ezybonds No 1 Syndicate from the Baramul Stud draft.
He is the last foal of Lake Superior, who died in 2017. She was an unraced half-sister by Encosta de Lago to stakes-winner Cantonese from the family of Australian Horse of the Year Typhoon Tracy.
