Winning Horse: Esta La Roca (NZ)

4yoM El Roca (Aus) - Camouflaged (Aus)(Strategic (Aus))

18 starts - 7 wins 2 seconds 4 thirds 1 fourth $413385

Black Type Placings

3rd LR Caulfield Ive > Print W.J. Adams Stakes 1000m (2022)

2nd LR Moonee Valley Long Fine Hospitality Carlyon 1000m (2021)

3rd LR Morphettville Tab Lightning Stakes 1050m (2021)

Other Wins

1st Moonee Valley Ladbrokes 55Sec Chall-Fnl-Bm90 955m (2022)

1st Sandown-Hillside Tobin Bros Celebrating (Bm90) 1000m (2021)

1st Sandown-Hillside Ladbrokes Switch (Bm64) 1000m (2021)

1st Moonee Valley Seppelt Wines (Bm64) 1000m (2020)

1st Moonee Valley Ladbrokes 55 Second Chall-Bm64 955m (2020)

1st Cranbourne P & L Darose-Afc 2 Mdn Plate 1000m (2020)

Race Result:

1st: Esta La Roca (L Kennewell/B Thompson) - $8.50

2nd: Remlaps Gem (S Singleton/J McDonald) - $2.25F
3rd: Archer’s Paradox (D Murphy/M Cartwright) - $14

Winning Time: 53.14 Last 600m: 34.47

Margins: 1L x 1/2L

Winning Trainer: Lloyd Kennewell

Thoughts on Gary Kennewell: “He's the best travelling foreman and going around. So that works out really well.”

“He's very lighthearted and I suppose that rubs off on the horses when he's away.”

Thoughts on Esta La Roca travelling north: “She's come up really, really well. I think you'll see horses that travel by road pretty close to a race possibly need it and have to get over it all first up. Streets Of Avalon pulled up crook, obviously there is a problem there. I don't know what the extent of it, but this filly probably did as well a little bit post race. I wasn't a hundred percent happy with her so sent it down to Carlua Lodge. She had a week down there and she'd obviously come through it really well here and she worked good Tuesday morning. To be honest, I think she's the best horse in the race and she won so it was good.”

On floating instead of flying: “I would've liked to have flown her up, but with COVID at the moment, there's no real flights flying around.

Thoughts on winning today: “It's worked out well and I'll be honest, I think she's better on top of the ground. I was happy to get away with the win today and great for Santo, he's my number one man. He owns a lot of horses with me and owns her outright. She'll be valuable broodmare later on.”

Pre-race tactics: “We discussed at pre-race, I actually wanted him to let JMac actually come back up underneath him. We thought we could have led, let it lead, sit off it and have one crack at him. That's what she'd been doing in Melbourne. She'd done it today so that's great.

Future plans: “There’s no real plan, she's a 1000 metre specialist. There is a race here in about three or four weeks. I might just send it back out for a week or so. We’ll just let the dust settle tonight and work out where we go. She'll probably have one more run and the spell up here I think.”

Winning Jockey: Ben Thompson

Thoughts on the win: “It's worked out really good. Lloyd (Kennewell) is very easy to ride for, Lloyd and Gary. He gave me a pretty open book and just to ride her really not to have any tactics and help her through the ground. She had one go in the week before and she finished third at black type level. The confidence that Lloyd gave me, he said she’d come through her run at Eagle Farm run well.”

How the race played out: “It just mapped really nice in theory, I was probably going to be sitting second outside of Remlaps Gem from the draw. From the 400, I thought if he was going to beat me he was probably going to have me off the bit and have a margin on me but it didn’t and obviously 4.5kg was a big help late.”

Race Photo (image courtesy of Michael McNally photography)