HUMIDOR, a half-length second to Winx in the 2017 Cox Plate, ignited some of that sparkle on Saturday with a hard-fought win in the Group 2 Feehan Stakes over 1,600 metre at Moonee Valley.

The eight-year-old Teofilo gelding was having his first start under the Chris Waller banner chalking up his first win in almost two years. Guided off the rail by Damien Lane, Humidor went three wide on the bend to ‘split the pack’ and forge on for a well-taken half-length win.

“We wanted to see him come here and run well,” said Waller representative Jo Taylor. “We wanted him to show us that he wanted to be here even if it wasn’t a winning run. What he did today, he certainly showed us that he’s back on track.”

Second was the early Melbourne Cup favourite Surprise Baby, who finished very well as the widest runner with third going to Harbour Views. The win also carried a ballot-free entry to the Cox Plate.

“I’m sure that’ll be on the cards,” added Taylor. “It would be a grand final but he needed to show us that he’s a horse that wants to be racing. He’s done that and now we can sit back, see how he pulls up and make those decisions. It’s certainly hard to bypass, isn’t it?”

THE Irish-bred Sea Wolf, racing in Australia as Mister Sea Wolf, won Saturday’s Group 2 Chelmsford Stakes to bring up a sixth win in the event over the past nine years for Chris Waller.

The Amadeus Wolf gelding, trained here by Ger Lyons, brought up a stable trifecta with the South African-bred Yulong Prince second ahead of the British-bred Finche, his first start since finishing seventh in last year’s Melbourne Cup. An emotional Chris Waller dedicated the win to trainer Rick Worthington, with news filtering through the track that the 60-year-old had just lost his battle with cancer.

“All the trainers learned about half an hour ago and there was an air of silence,” said Waller. “To lose a man like Rick at such a young age, it’s too young. He was the first one to help anyone out for someone who is doing it tough, and he’s done it tougher than anyone over the last few years and he’d be the last one to show it. Just a fantastic horseman and just a dedicated man to horses all his life.”

Hopes decrease of crowds returning

THE Victorian State Government has extended its Stage 4 lockdown to September 28th, just two weeks out from the start of the Caulfield Cup carnival.

On Sunday a plan was unveiled for the further relaxation of restrictions dependent on Covid-19 case numbers, the earliest of which those restrictions would relax being October 28th, just three days before Victoria Derby Day and the start of the Melbourne Cup Carnival. Most likely crowds will be absent from this year’s Spring Carnival.

“Compromising the strategy for a day at the races for 5,000 people or 25,000 people is not worth it. It’s just not worth it,” said a forthright Victoria Premier Daniel Andrews.

“As much as I respect the contribution that sector makes, we have got to do it safe.”