He may have relinquished the Sydney premiership but Peter Snowden kept up his feature race strike rate with Scarf in the Winter Stakes at Rosehill on Saturday.
The 1500m race was the last stakes race of the Sydney season and a welcome return home for the trainer after a brief visit to England where he touched base with his boss Sheikh Mohammed.
A striking grey son of Lonhro, Scarf is the best performed of the progeny of Muffle and notched his sixth win from 11 starts when he held off the late charge by Devils Arcade by a long neck.
Snowden said three-year-old Scarf still showed signs of immaturity but his ability was obvious.
“He took all the bad luck out of the race,” Snowden said.
“It’s a good sign to see a three-year-old win at this time of year against these horses.
“He is a little bit quirky – he has a habit of laying in. If he could get cover I think he could run a mile (1600m).”
Snowden said the Winter Championship final in two weeks was the likely aim for Scarf.
“He’s not really a carnival horse yet, he’s still a little bit new,” he said.
“He comes from a really good family.
“You don’t see many grey Lonhros but it’s very dominant on his dam Muffle’s side.
“He has always been a bit immature but I think he can win some good races.”
Gai Waterhouse was ruing Devils Arcade’s bad luck after she missed the start and was forced to settle second last instead of second.
“Talk about a moral beaten,” Waterhouse said.
“A few played up in the barriers beside her and she missed the start.
“We’ll just have to come back in two weeks to the Winter Championship and turn it around.”
Although he will not retain his Sydney premiership title this year, Snowden is justifiably proud of his achievements.
The Darley operation made a clean sweep of all five Group One events for two-year-olds as well as taking out many of the Group and Listed events.
“It’s been a very good year,” Snowden said.
“It’s been a good foundation for our two-year-olds and our three-year-olds went well.
“How do you measure success? You try to better yourself and we’ve done that this year.”
AAP TURF