By Brad Gray
English went back-to-back in the Group Two Challenge Stakes, getting the better of Redzel in a driving finish at Randwick.
The four-year-old mare further enhanced her reputation as being ‘an autumn horse’ bouncing back to her best form after a below par spring.
English prevails in a ding-dong battle
“She’s back. She’s a different mare this preparation and it’s great to see her do that today,” said Adrian Bott who co-trains with Gai Waterhouse.
“We can’t really pinpoint anything (about last preparation), her whole demeanour this preparation shows she is back in great shape.
“She was out on her feet there at the 100m but to her credit she showed what a tough filly she is. She really fought and fought hard.”
Blake Shinn, who earlier rode Gunnison to victory in the Todman Stakes, looks to be hitting form at the right time of year and was impressed with English who’ll next tackle The Galaxy.
“She had to fight hard. The 1000m speed was just a little bit fast for her, she was out of her comfort zone the whole way, especially in that testing ground,” said Shinn.
“She was going to win comfortably at the 300m but she was always going to be vulnerable and Redzel is a hard horse to get past.”
English before attempting back-to-back Challenge Stakes @GaiWaterhouse1 pic.twitter.com/sYT0arfPwd
— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) March 4, 2017