A wide-open Group III Ladbrokes Zeditave Stakes (1200m) at Sandown-Lakeside encouraged connection of the Shalaa gelding Recommendation to make the trip south after winning a benchmark 64 at Canterbury.
Ridden by John Allen for Ciaron Maher and David Eustace, Recommendation did best in a driving finish to edge the Snitzel filly Wee Nessy by a neck with a three-quarter length back to the Rich Enuff filly Rich Fortune in third.
Rich Fortune earned third in the steward’s room after sharing the prize with Spacewalk (Exossphere).
The winner of his first two starts at Gosford and Muswellbrook, Recommendation advances his record to four wins and a third from six starts with earnings of $205,780.
Maher praised his team in Sydney.
“It’s huge. Jo (Johann Gerard-Dubord), our assistant trainer up there, is down here, and he has done a super job with this horse,” Ciaron Maher said.
“He has gone to another level. He put the writing on the wall last start and has gone on with it again. I think he’ll improve again off the back of this.
“I’ll be interested to see what Johnny says, but super and great to get a winner for Nick Psaltis in those colours. He’s a great supporter of the stable.
“The form out of his last race is very good, and just how much improvement the horse had going into his last run and coming out of it, his work had improved, and we were confident he’d be an each-way chance here, for sure.”
Bred by Pacific King Pty Ltd, Recommendation was withdrawn from the 2021 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
He is the best of three winners from as many to race out of the unraced Street Cry mare Adviso (USA), a daughter of the 4-time Grade 1 winner Proviso (Dansili).
Adviso (USA) has a yearling brother to Recommendation and foaled a Shalaa (IRE) filly last spring before visiting The Autumn Sun.
Recommendation is the eleventh stakes-winner for Arrowfield Stud’s Shalaa (IRE).
