Despite enduring a three-wide run for jockey Jeff Lloyd, the son of So You Think showed his class over the final furlong to kick clear and win by a length – his fifth consecutive victory since taking a three-year-old handicap at Doomben in July.
Murwillumbah horseman Matthew Dunn immediately hailed the four-year-old as the best horse he’s trained and said Group 1 options in Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane could be on the agenda in the coming months.
“He’s the best I’ve had,” Dunn said.
“He’s done it the hard way, three deep with no cover and he’s stepped up to a new level again today, he’s a very exciting horse.
“He’s very special and if I can train him properly and keep him in one piece, who knows where he could end up.
“I’ll see how he comes through today and we’ll decide which way we head with him, he could go to Sydney of Melbourne over the carnival or we could hold onto him until the winter here in Queensland.”
A bargain $16,000 buy at the at 2015 MM National Yearling Sale, Dunn revealed that he’d initially encountered trouble when trying to secure owners in Care To Think but said the many that had taken up the opportunity were now reaping the rewards.
A winner of six of his 11 career starts, Care To Think’s earnings soared past $840,000 with Saturday’s victory.
“We didn’t pay huge money for him but we had a bit of trouble getting him done,” he said.
“There were a lot of people who bought little shares and they split those up into smaller shares and it’s fantastic to see them all allowed into the enclosure to enjoy this win.”
Despite the testing run throughout, Lloyd said he never doubted Care To Think’s ability to overcome the setback, as he’d done when winning The Buffering (1350m) at Doomben last month.
“He really came out quick and from there I thought I’d let him roll and if we get in, we get in and if we don’t, you’ve got to have faith in these good horses,” Lloyd said.
“These good horses can overcome difficulty and he won well, it was pretty cosy.”
On-pacer Arbeitsam (Snitzel – Workhard) rallied well to hold second for Gai Waterhouse and Adrian Bott while Snippets Land (Snippetson x Seduction Line) produced one of the performances of his career to take third for the Snowden stable.
