The Steve Wolfe trained Rope Them In proved too strong in a driving finish to the Group 3 Roma Cup at Ascot, reeling in the previously unbeaten Smooth Chino to claim a confidence building win on his way to his Grand Final in the $5 million Quokka at the same track on April 18.
Smooth Chino, whose unbeaten run had extended to six straight wins coming into the Roma Cup, topped the betting at $2.45, with Rope Them In relatively easy to back on the third line of betting at $6.
Rope Then In did have race winning credentials, having become battle hardened over summer where he won the Listed R S Crawford Stakes … finished second in the Group 3 Asian Beau Stakes behind Watch Me Rock, who would go on to win the Group 1 Railway Stakes and then run second in the Group 1 Northerly Stakes … and Rope Them In then then finished fourth in the Group 1 Winterbottom Stakes won by Libertad.
He then finished unplaced behind Rey Magnerio in the Group 3 Gold Rush which came at the end of a gruelling and tested prep which Rope Them In came through with healthy pass mark.
As it turned out, a three-and-a-half break from race action was just the tonic to help get him back to winning form.
Of course he had Smooth Chino, another Quokka contender, to beat. You couldn’t argue with way the Roma Cup favourite had gone about his business… unbeaten in six starts … leading up to the Roma Cup, but this latest assignment did represent a step up in class for the lightly raced four-year-old … as he was going from Listed to Group 3 company and, perhaps more importantly, he was racing against some very seasoned campaigners. (This was Rope Them In’s twenty-fifth start. The Indianna Weinert trained Smooth Chino was only seeing action for the seventh time).
Lucy Fiore had Smooth Chino in prime position, racing in third spot outside the two leaders in the early part. Two lengths back, tracking that group, always in range, was Rope Them In with Shaun McGruddy biding his time aboard the Wolfe trained runner.
Fiore moved Smooth Chino closer on the home turn and then pushed the button coming through the 200m mark at which stage the chestnut gelding accelerated into the lead … but he was no sure thing.
Rope Them In was leading the charge behind Smooth Chino and he slowly started to cut the gap to the favourite, building what would turn out to be winning momentum with every stride under a determined ride by McGruddy.
Smooth Chino still led inside the final 75m, but his lead and his unbeaten record was now in a very precarious position as Rope Them In went past Smooth Chino with 50m left to run.
Smooth Chino lasted for second place … no disgrace there …ahead of the eye-catching third place-getter Oscar’s Fortune who ran on well to get within 0.56 lengths of the winner at the line.
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