Horrifying blows away Berkshire Breeze at Flemington to continue resurgence

Horrifying continued his resurgence at Flemington but the upset result won’t change Melbourne Cup plans for beaten favourite Berkshire Breeze.

Horrifying races away from Berkshire Breeze at Flemington on Saturday. Picture: Vince Caligiuri/Getty Images

The resurgence of Horrifying continued at Flemington on Saturday with victory over short-priced favourite and Cups hopeful Berkshire Breeze.

Horrifying, trained by Lindsey Smith, stalked Berkshire Breeze in the 2530m race and took over in the straight to win by 2½ lengths.

While disappointed to lose, assistant trainer Jack Turnbull said plans for Berkshire Breeze, a $1.40 favourite with TAB, would remain unchanged.

The grey stayer has been set for the Melbourne Cup-qualifying Archer Stakes at Flemington on September 14.

“He’ll get in (the Archer), he’s rated 93 so it’s not going to change our plans,” Turnbull said.

“If we have to, there might be a race in between.”

Berkshire Breeze was vulnerable on Saturday in front, having settled off the speed the past two starts at Flemington when victorious by a combined 9½ lengths.

Horrifying causes a big upset and proves too strong! 🔥@[e-mail]/D5FDzB7f3K

— 7HorseRacing 🐎 (@7horseracing) August 3, 2024

“We didn’t always want to lead, he’s normally a chasing horse, but in saying that they went pretty slow fractions and Blake (Shinn) just followed our every move,” Turnbull said.

“It was a walk, trot, sprint, the horse still ran well, he was solid to the line … disappointing in terms of result but we know the horse is progressive … it’s not going to deter his future.

Horrifying always travelled like the winner, both visually and for Shinn.

“We applied pressure between the 800m and 700m and approaching the turn I just sensed Ethan (Brown) didn’t have a lot up the locker and I was still cantering,” Shinn said.

“I hadn’t gone for my bloke and when I asked him to quicken down and come off the bridle there was another two lengths up my sleeve, gee that was a good win.

“He’s got more to offer this horse and if they keep placing him right, he can keep winning.”

Blake Shinn followed Berkshire Breeze’s every move. Picture: Reg Ryan/Racing Photos via Getty Images

Horrifying, previously trained by Mark and Levi Kavanagh, improved his Flemington record to five wins from 12 starts including back-to-back successes for Smith inside a fortnight.

“He’s back to his best, that’s a good result for the owners and myself and the stable,” Smith said.

“We didn’t change much, there was no data involved or anything like that, just keep him happy and that’s what we’ve done at the beach.

“He’s done little bit of bowling in the heavy sand in the 14 days, we’ll stick to that plan and see what turns up next.”

Originally published as Horrifying blows away Berkshire Breeze at Flemington to continue resurgence