Massive plunge on French import Cawdor goes awry as Le Ferrari proves to speedy at Sandown

Punters left money in the bag as favourite Cawdor went unplaced in his Australian debut at Sandown on Saturday.

Le Ferrari, ridden by Ben Allen, wins at Sandown. Picture: Scott Barbour / Racing Photos

Punters left money in the bag as favourite Cawdor went unplaced in his Australian debut at Sandown on Saturday.

The French import, smashed late in betting $4.60 to $3 minutes before the jump, travelled stylishly in the 1400m Benchmark 84 but only plugged in the straight.

Trainer Trent Busuttin lamented the disappointing performance, with a Good 4 track potentially the only excuse for the previously Group 3-placed import.

“He travelled up well, I thought he was in the right spot, and two seconds after they straightened you knew he was gone,” Busuttin said.

“The only query, all his form in France was on a soft track, his trials have been on soft tracks, his gallops have been on soft tracks, and it’s a Good 4 … it’s the only thing I’d say on face value.”

No such trouble for Lindsay Park trainers Ben, JD and Will Hayes, who finished the card with a pair of winners.

Le Ferrari savages the line to win R9 at Sandown for @lindsayparkrace & @bennallen44 🚘 pic.twitter.com/XZYkwDr82q

— Racing.com (@Racing) May 25, 2024

• O’Sullivan doubles up at Sandown with classy mares

Le Ferarri and Rheinberg fought out the finish in the 1400m Benchmark 84 then Nicolini Vito ended a 522-day drought with a 1400m Benchmark 100 victory.

Rheinberg got the better of leader Starlight Scope inside the last 200m, but could not hold out the stablemate Le Ferarri, who put “the writing on the wall” with a good third at Caulfield last start.

“He’s just freshened beautifully, we had him out on our farm on the water walker ticking over, and bridged him to where we thought he’d be well placed this time of year,” Hayes said.

“His run at Caulfield last start really put the writing on the wall that he was a horse in form and today he really was quite impressive.

“There’s a lot of options now, going forward, we’ll take him through his ratings and probably pop up at Flemington or Caulfield because he’s established himself as a nice city horse.”

Nicolini Vito appreciated a drop in grade to surge to victory in the last form Windstorm.

He deserves this one 🥇

Nicolini Vito wins the last race at Sandown for @lindsayparkrace ✌️ pic.twitter.com/j77zn3bCQN

— Racing.com (@Racing) May 25, 2024

Originally published as Massive plunge on French import Cawdor goes awry as Le Ferrari proves to speedy at Sandown