The well-travelled Lim's Cruiser stuck his nose out where it mattered most in a thrilling finish to Wednesday’s Listed Steve's Liquor Mowbray Stakes (1600m) at Launceston.
The 9yo son of Casino Prince broke a long run of outs when he captured the Listed Tasmanian Stakes at Hobart on January 7 before a luckless fourth in the Thomas Lyon Stakes on the same track a month later.
With Brendon McCoull again in the saddle, the Scott Brunton-trained veteran staved off the barnstorming finish of stablemate Mandela Effect by a nose with Biometric (GB) a short-half-head back in third.
A star performer in Singapore, where he won the 2019 Lion City Cup and Kranji Stakes, Lim’s Cruiser finished seventh behind Blue Point in that year’s Group 1 Diamond Jubilee Stakes at Royal Ascot before bowing a tendon when sixth behind Ten Sovereigns in the Group 1 Darley July Cup.
Lim’s Cruiser advances his record to ten wins, five seconds, and five thirds from 35 starts with earnings of $2,006,465.
It was a third win in the Mowbray Stakes for McCoull.
“He did a good job. He was three wide with cover the whole way,” McCoull said.
“He is a fantastic horse. He has been a superstar. He lost his way a bit but they have got him back and going again and it’s fantastic to see.
“He is a happy, heathy horse, enjoying a change of environment. He lives down the beach and they have him really fit and well and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Bred by Patinack Farm, Lim's Cruiser was a $17,000 Magic Millions Yearling that was purchased by Mick Dittman for $100,000 from the Heinrich Bloodstock Dispersal at the 2015 Gold Coast National Racehorse Sale.
The son of Casino Prince is the second of three foals left by the unraced Good Journey mare Hope Downs a daughter of the South African champion Battle Maiden (Goldkeeper).
