NO GROUP 1 FOR HINGED – YET

By Graham Potter | Wednesday, October 13, 2021

Hinged, who scored five wins and two runner-up finishes from seven starts for trainer Michael Nolan before transferring, under new ownership, to the Chris Waller stable started a $3.80 favourite for the Group 1 1000 Guineas at Caulfield over 1600m on October 13.

That betting confidence came on the back of Hinged’s fine runner-up finish in the Flight Stakes, which was his first run in Group 1 company, but he did not quite run to expectations in the Guineas finishing in sixth place, four lengths behind the $26 winner Yearning.

The daughter of Worthy Cause landed in the leading line, but Damian Lane did not rush from the number nine barrier draw, choosing instead to gradually let Hinged settle into the race, which ultimately saw him take up a midfield position, racing three-wide in the first half of the contest.

When the speed when on in the approach to the home turn Hinged still had five lengths to make up. By the time the field straightened , Hinged was four to five wide and he now found himself surrounded by runners and he was about to come off second best in the very tight racing conditions, being buffeted between runners at the top of the straight which very much took the sting out of any finishing effort he was hoping to produce … and he simply did not get into the race to any serious degree in the run home.

In the circumstances, finishing sixth, with the likes of his market rival Zouzarella ($5.50) behind him, was not a bad effort in itself, but perhaps it was a disappointment in terms of the expectation built up on the betting boards.

Hinged has now had three runs for the Waller stable … with that second in the Flight Stakes being his best result for his new stable to date.

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