Nonconformist behaves perfectly to take Coongy Cup
Neither Al Galayel nor Django Freeman, both of whom needed to win to qualify for the Caulfield Cup on Saturday, could get the job done as Nonconformist took the prize in the Coongy Cup to give Jordan Childs the first leg of a running double at Caulfield.
The Graham Begg-trained four-year-old has now won twice over 2000 metres, the distance of the Coongy, but his trainer believes that he might be just as effective over 1600 metres – and that is where he might now chase group 1 glory during the Melbourne Cup carnival.
Nonconformist takes out the Coongy Cup.Credit:Getty Images
A progressive son of the Victoria Derby winner Rebel Raider, Noncomformist was on his best behaviour to come late and win from the Australian Cup winner Harlem on Wednesday, with the dual Ballarat Cup winner Kiwia showing he is running into form should he try to make it a hat-trick in the last feature of the Melbourne carnival late in November.
"He gave him a terrific ride and produced him at the right time," said Begg.
"He had a bit of a hiccup but it's good to get him back on track and I like him a lot.
"There are a couple of races at Flemington I have in the back of my mind, a race like the Cantala, a bit of a freshen-up and back to a mile," his trainer suggested.
Django Freeman tried to make every post a winning one under Jamie Kah and he did seem to have the better of Al Galayel but neither could match the finishing burst of those coming from behind.
In the end both horses were reported to be lame at the end of the race.
Elsewhere, the Blue Sapphire Stakes, a three-year-old group 3 contest worth $300,000, attracted plenty of negative comment earlier in the week when only three runners were declared.
Critics argued that the small field showed that the program through the spring needed to be rethought.
But no one could complain about the quality of the contest provided by the trio of Anders, Hanseatic and outsider Ranting, a maiden who had been placed several times at group level.
And the threesome and their riders, Mark Zahra, Luke Currie and Ben Melham, made for an exhilarating sight as they came round the turn locked in battle.
It looked as though Hanseatic had got the better of the favourite Anders, but Melham, aboard Ranting, conjured a second effort from his partner and the Troy Corstens-trained galloper rallied to overhaul Hanseatic on the line.
The three-year-old will now target the group 1 Coolmore at Flemington on Derby Day when amongst his rivals will be his stable companion Swats That, an impressive winner at Caulfield last Saturday.
Childs made it a double in the race after the Coongy when he showed plenty of enterprise to lead all the way on Vegas Knight for veteran Caulfield trainer Colin Little.
Michael Lynch is The Age's chief soccer reporter and also reports on motor sport and horseracing