LEGENDARY trainer Bart Cummings turned slayer on his son Anthony when snaring group 1 win No. 251 with straight-course specialist Swick in yesterday's $500,000 Patinack Farm Classic.
And hot-pot Apache Cat's Hong Kong trip next month is in jeopardy after he ran the worst race of his career when finishing eighth as a $2 favourite.
With father and son both trainers, it was left to Anthony Cummings to settle for second with his charge Turffontein as Bart backed up from Viewed's upset Melbourne Cup victory on Tuesday.
"Dad should give the game away," Anthony Cummings quipped after Swick's win.
"I wish he'd retired after the Cup."
Bart was in a relaxed mood after the classic, in which top jockey Michael Rodd won a third group 1 of the carnival after previously landing the Caulfield Guineas and Cox Plate.
"I took a while to get to 250 [group 1s] but now I'm on the way to 300," Bart Cummings said.
Swick was specked in the betting ($21 to $16) while the Greg Eurell-trained Apache Cat eased from $1.65 to $2. Eurell said Apache Cat had been his "normal self" leading into yesterday's event.
"He is a bulletproof horse - to run that bad is a concern," Eurell said.
"We will have to reassess Hong Kong with him.
"There has to be a cloud over the trip. We will have to dig deep, find out what the problem was with him today.
"I honestly don't know what it is - it's the worst run he's ever put in in his life. He only got to the 600m and that was that."
Apache Cat's jockey Corey Brown, who had win five straight group 1s on the sprinter from as many rides, couldn't shed any light on the effort.
"I don't know what to make of it," he said.
"He travelled well early but from the 600m he just got a bit punchey. That was totally out of character."
Bart Cummings said he "didn't feel confident - just hoped for the best" about the chances of Swick beating Apache Cat but was quick to point out "this is the track he [Swick] loves".
"He loves it up the straight, and the small field suited him, too," he said.
Rodd was over the moon to win a group 1 for Cummings.
"He is a great trainer - you can't help but be confident when you get on his horses, especially in these big races," said Rodd, who rode Moatize and Dandaad to victory for Cummings on the first two days of the Flemington carnival.
"Swick was primed for today and he had the perfect run in transit. To come out and win a group 1 today is great - it keeps things rolling along. I'm so excited."
Swick scored by a half length over Turffontein ($26) and the runner-up's jockey Peter Robl reported "he ran his heart out".
Sunburnt Land ($5.50 to $3.80) was one length away in third after looming as a chance.
"He just got there a little bit too early but I was happy with the way he battled on to the line," jockey Chris Symons said.
Doncaster Handicap winner Triple Honour finished fourth with Danny Nikolic aboard and the jockey said he had a hard-luck story.
"He dipped badly and took time to get balanced up," Nikolic said.
"If that didn't happen he could have been in the finish.
"He ran great."
Email a friend
Favourites
Del.icio.us
Facebook
Digg
StumbleUpon
MySpace
Reddit
Newsvine
LinkedIn
Kwoff
Twitter