Serial tease Odeon broke a 779-day drought to win the listed Lord Stakes in convincing fashion at Caulfield on Boxing Day. The Mathew Ellerton and Simon Zahra-trained gelding had lost 19 straight races following his last victory on Melbourne Cup day in 2017, but justified the support from punters on Thursday to salute as the $3 favourite.
Jockey Craig Williams put him in the perfect spot in transit, just off the leading pair, and the Melbourne Cup-winning hoop had plenty in the tank when he asked Odeon for a final effort in the straight.
“A lot of pressure on today; it’s like winning a group 1,” Zahra quipped.
“He’s an honest sort of horse, a lot of things haven’t gone his way. We just put it down to fitness the other day, a bit of a sit and sprint.“You can see why we get frustrated when they can win like that.”
The $90,000 yearling purchase took his career earnings beyond $700,000 with the 1700-metre stakes victory, but Zahra said there were no plans yet for his next run.
“We’ll just let the dust settle,” he said.
“He’s got another listed win in him somewhere I think. He enjoys Caulfield, he enjoys that tempo so we’ve just got to keep him to those races where we know we’re going to get a fair bit of speed.
Source: Racing: Odeon broke a 779-day drought to win the listed Lord Stakes at Caulfield on Boxing Day