A plan hatched during the Adelaide Carnival has paid off for Godolphin with Renosu taking out the A R Creswick Stakes at Flemington.
Godolphin trainer James Cummings picked out Saturday's 1200m Listed race for three-year-olds after Renosu was withdrawn from a Stakes race at Morphettville following a wide barrier draw.
Returning to Melbourne and running well against older horse at Flemington on May 20, Renosu was set for Saturday's race with a freshen up and a recent jump-out at Kilmore.
Ridden by Blake Shinn, Renosu ($4.80) scored by 1-½ lengths from Cause For Concern ($4.60) with the $3.90 favourite Legio Ten a half-length away third.
Sean Keogh, who runs the Melbourne stable for Cummings and had travelled to Adelaide with the Godolphin team for the Carnival, said it was nice that a plan hatched by 'the boss' had paid off.
"The horse was going really well when he was campaigning in Adelaide," Keogh said.
"We accepted with the horse in the Tobin Bronze which would have been his first start at 1200 metres, but he was drawn a bit wide that day and James had a look at the calendar and saw this race.
"It was sometime between the runs, but he took him back home to Flemington and ran second in a benchmark 90 and gave him a little freshen up to get him ready for today.
"It worked out beautifully."
Keogh said there was concern in the Godolphin team whether Renosu would run a strong 1200m, but the stable also knew that the three-year-old had an affinity with the straight Flemington track.
"He debuted here but getting to the 1200 metres was always a query for us because he's such a hard going horse," Keogh said.
"But talking to Blake before the race we said that if he can get that first furlong right, we knew he would be very strong late and it transpired like that."
Keogh said both Renosu and stablemate Legio Ten are likely to progress further into the new season.
He said they were proven on soft tracks and remained lightly raced for their campaigns.
"Legio Ten was only third-up today and Renosu had been freshened ahead of today, so he's still got plenty of freshness in his legs," Keogh said.
