IT was not quite third time’s the charm for Dean Mirfin’s I Am Capitan in his latest bid for Highway Handicap success, but the Bathurst gelding still produced a bold display at Rosehill Gardens on Saturday.
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Last month at two starts at the same track in Highway Handicap races, Mirfin’s six-year-old had manged a second and a third against some of the best runners in country New South Wales.
On Saturday Mirfin once more aimed I Am Capitan at a rich $75,000 Highway Handicap (1,200 metres), but the I Am Invincible x Perpugilliam gelding had to settle for third place.
A blistering sprint down the straight saw $2.10 favourite Nobel Boy get the nod for trainer Todd Blows by 1½ lengths over Coup De Main ($5), with I Am Capitan ($6) a further half length back.
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That trio were neck and neck with 200m to go, I Am Capitan having sat near the front the entire trip after winning the start for jockey Sam Weatherley, but Nobel Boy had the speed to pull clear.
“He is a smart horse,” winning jockey James McDonald said.
“I probably went too soon, if I had ridden him before I would have waited and he’d have sprinted up a furlong.”