William Haggas took his extraordinary record to 10 wins from 22 starters in Australia with his four-year-old Lake Forest causing an upset win in a rough-and-tumble Golden Eagle at Rosehill.
Haggas already had five Group 1s to his credit in Australia, part of his global total of 33, and while there was no such status on offer at Rosehill on Saturday, the lure of a $10 million race saw him bring Lake Forest to Sydney.
But the son of No Nay Never, who is owned by billionaire investor, gambler and football club owner Tony Bloom, enjoyed a low-profile build-up with all the focus on two other international raiders, the Japanese-trained Ascoli Piceno and the unbeaten French gelding Lazzat.
Ascoli Piceno was heavily backed but never figured in a frantic race, while Lazzat assumed the front and looked set to repel all challengers until Cieren Fallon weaved a passage on Lake Forest and nabbed the French raider in the shadows of the post, with Tom Kitten third.
But the drama was far from finished. Forest Lake had veered out severely on the line and a protest was lodged by the second placegetter as well as the fifth-placed Stefi Magnetica against the second horse.
The result was unchanged by stewards, giving Fallon his first Australian winner.
Fallon received what is believed to be a record $100,000 fine while Lazzat’s jockey Antonio Orani copped a $30,000 fine. Both men were suspended for a month.
“I had a lot of belief in him. In all of his races he’d been crying out for a bit further. I knew with the bend it would allow us to fill him up,” Fallon, the son of champion jockey Kieren, said.
“It got a bit tight and I saved as much ground as I could up the inside and he showed his turn of foot towards the end and hit the line very strongly.
“This is remarkable. Money-wise, you can’t beat it. It’s definitely up there. Obviously my first time out here, to be able to be part of such a strong stable, obviously the boss has been sending horses out here for the last few years and they’ve been coming out on top.”
“He’s a superstar, he’s such an easy ride. He’s quite cheeky. He’s got a bit about him. And to ride for the boss, he places his horses very well, I think he’s the best in the world at it.”
Lake Forest wins the $10 million Golden Eagle.
Earlier, The Everest winner Bella Nipotina took her career winning to more than $20 million with victory in the Russell Balding Stakes.
She easily held out Sunshine in Paris and Lady Laguna to claim the $1 million Sydney sprint bonus.
The Ciaron Maher-trained mare has banked an enormous amount of money this campaign and is now only $200,000 behind Nature Strip, who is in second place behind Winx when it comes to most money earned by Australian horses.
Bella Nipotina winning the Russell Balding Stakes.
“I’ve got to thank Bella,” said jockey Craig Williams. “She’s just an amazing horse and I’m just privileged for the ride. We realised that she doesn’t speed up to other horses. We realised that over a period of time she just decreases slower than the rest of them.
“So that’s why she’s like a fine wine. It’s not the fact that she’s speeding past them, it’s just that they’re stopping before she does. And she’s just got the tenacity to keep on going. It’s really exciting.
“I had confidence in the horse. There’s not many times you can sit there in such a big race like today and to be able to be like a church mouse, but that’s the confidence I have in the horse. Ciaron Maher and his stable, and that’s the horse.”
The win helps Pride Of Dubai cement his position on top of the Australian sires’ table.
