Former leading apprentice Ben Allen took advantage of his best metropolitan opportunity for a long time with a polished all-the-way win on Sansom in the Chatham Stakes.
It was Allen’s first victory at Flemington since March 2019 and Sansom’s trainer Phillip Stokes said it made the win even more special with the jockey on board.
“He (Ben) did a lot of the early work on this horse. For Ben to get a win like this, it would mean a lot to him,” Stokes said.
“He rated him lovely in front and kept on building.”
It was Sansom’s eighth win from 17 starts but his first over 1400m at his second attempt at the trip.
Stokes said he would look at taking him to the Gold Coast for the Magic Millions Cup in January.