The connections of star Tasmanian three-year-old Admiral left the Flemington racecourse yesterday confident they have a horse capable of winning feature races outside of his home state.
Admiral finished fifth, beaten just over three lengths, in the $500,000 Group 1 Australian Guineas (1600m) behind the Gai Waterhouse-trained Wandjina.
Jockey Dwayne Dunn had Admiral positioned just better than midfield one-out with cover but the gelding was held up from the top of the long home straight to the 250-metre mark when he needed to be out and running.
The gelded son of Mossman ran on gamely and recorded his fastest 1600 metres at what was his third try at the trip, having won the Tasmanian Guineas and weight-for-age George Adams Plate at his only other tries at the distance.
Listen to what trainer Barry Campbell had to say about Admiral’s Australian Guineas effort.