ADELAD SHOWS HIS FIGHTING QUALITIES AS HE EDGES OUT CAPITAL CEE IN A CRACKERJACK OF A CONTEST

By Graham Potter | Saturday, September 2, 2023

Adelad, second-up and lifting the distance test from 1350m to 1500m with Cejay Graham’s 2kg claim bringing some weight relief to the 61kg the son of Adelaide had been set to carry, prevailed in a thriller to claim the second win of his career in his eighth start when he landed a BM70 Handicap at Eagle Farm on September 2.

All of those factors were to Adelad’s advantage but, in spite of that, the Tony and Maddysen Sears trained runner had to call on something extra to complete the job, namely a will-to-win focus that gave no inch in a tough, stride-for-stride battle with Capital Cee over the final 100m.

Adelad and Capital Cee, who had jumped as equal favourites at $4 and who were ridden by two apprentices taking the metropolitan scene by storm, took different paths in the race before coming together to fight out a grandstand finish.

Cejay Graham had Adelad in fourth spot, a little over two lengths off the lead in the first half of the race whereas Bailey Wheeler took Capital Cee back to last from the wider draw, racing some seven lengths off the speed which placed him a little under five lengths behind Adelad at that stage.

The field closed up on the approach to the home turn where Adelad cornered three wide, now less than two lengths off the lead, with Capital Cee now right behind the Sears trained runner, tracking him into the race.

As Graham set Adelad about his business early in the straight, Wheeler switched Capital Cee out marginally to present his mount with a clear run to Adelad’s outside and, by the time Adelad did reach the front at the 200m mark, Capital Cee, who had taken a while to build momentum, was now coming on strongly down the center of the track.

In fact, momentum-wise, Capital Cee did seem to have the measure of Adelad coming through the 150m mark but, no sooner had Capital Cee got alongside Adelad, with 120m left to run, then Adelad kicked on strongly, holding Capital Cee in a stirring, head-bobbing battle all the way to the line to claim victory by the narrowest of margins.

The race produced eye-catching rides from both Graham and Wheeler and strong concentrated efforts from both horses.

It was a crackerjack of a race.

More articles