Patinack
Farm was in fine form with a winning double at Eagle Farm on Saturday but it
was Reflectance's victory which has left the Nathan Tinkler juggernaut with a
dilemma.
Reflectance
burst from the pack halfway down the straight to score easing down by 2-1/4
lengths to Caballo Rapido with Joint Initiative, a further three-quarters-of-a-length
away third in the T&J Whitehouse Handicap (1500m).
Reflectance
was an expensive purchase as a yearling for Tinkler, who paid $625,000 for the
son of champion sire Redoute's Choice.
The
three-year-old has a long way to go to recoup those expenses but could be on
the right road if trainer John Thompson backs
his judgement and heads to Melbourne for the remainder of the spring.
Patinack
Farm's Queensland stable foreman Brett Killion said the Sandown Guineas next
month was a serious option for Reflectance who took his record to three wins
and two placings from six starts.
He is still
well short of returning Tinkler a profit with just over $100,000 in the bank.
"The
Sandown Guineas is in the back of our minds but we could freshen him up for the
Magic Millions Guineas in January," Killion said.
Jockey Michael Cahill was suitably impressed with
Reflectance's acceleration in the straight after shouldering his way into the
clear.
"He's still a bit immature at the moment
but he's got a lot of ability," Cahill said.
"Mentally
he's not quite there but he has the potential.
"He's
definitely up with the Group class three-year-olds."
Earlier Patinack
Farm was successful with Saint Encosta who was scratched from the Tattersall's
Club Cup at Randwick to contest the River Junction Racing Handicap (1200m).
Saint Encosta,
who started $2.40 favourite, ran an encouraging fourth to Glencadam Gold in the
G3 Newcastle Cup (2400m) at his previous start.
Thompson's
decision to return to Brisbane with Saint Encosta instead of a Randwick
assignment was vindicated when the six-year-old downed Buffett by one length in
class record time.
"He
showed today what he's capable of but the lack of pace in the race was our biggest concern," Killion
said.
"He
went right on with the job today."
Saint
Encosta, who was an $800,000 yearling at the 2008 Magic Millions sales, has now
won $328,000 in prizemoney after recording only his fourth win from 28 starts.
Racing Queensland webnews October 20
Photo: Trackside Photography
