Swettenham Stud

A scintilating last furlong, reminiscent of All Silent in the Spring, has taken Nicconi to victory in the $500,000 Group 1 Coolmore Lightning Stakes (1000m) at Flemington today. He is now likely to head to Ascot later in the year.

Nicconi ($4.40,$5.50,$5) was tucked away at the rear of the field by jockey Damien Oliver and was any odds at the 200m still standing up the leader, and eventual second placegetter, Wanted ($8.50, $9) the best part of four lengths but flew the last furlong to win by a long head with Shellscrape ($8.50,$9) an eyecatching third a length back.

Hayes was confident of Nicconi's chances and full of praise for the colt after the win.

"He is undefeated fresh and put his best foot forward today," said Hayes

"That makes him a dual Group One winner at weight-for-age conditions now and I have said for a long time that he is definitely the best sprinter I have trained."

By in form Swettenham sire Bianconi the four-year-old colt has a winning strike rate a tick under 50% a rarity for blue bloods in this country according to Hayes.

"He is a blue blood that can run and there isn't a lot of those colts in Australia," said Hayes.

With a imminent global preparation on the horizon Hayes was still unsure what will perhaps be his final Australian lead up.

"We are looking at the William Reid weight-for-age at the Valley but we may also consider the Newmarket," he said.

"The reason we have given this horse a light year of racing was to go overseas this season and it is coming to fruition now," Hayes added.

It was the fifth win in the Group One feature for premier jockey Damien Oliver and showed that his ability to assess the pace of a race and the horse that he has underneath him is as polished as it has ever been.

Nicconi's prizemoney purse already exceeds the million dollar mark from just sixteen starts and he looks set to fulfill Hayes prediction of being the best sprinter he has trained.

Iron horse Apprehend from the Tony Vasil stable made it three wins from his last four starts winning the $90,000 TAB BIG6 Mega Jackpot Handicap (2600m) at Flemington on Lightning Stakes day.

Apprehend ($3,$3.50,$3.40) was dominant throughout and sprinted well upon straightening to score a comfortable length win from Grand Destiny ($4.80,$5) with Macedonian ($2.60,$3.20) a further half length away third.

Remarkably it has been twenty starts since Apprehend was last in the spelling paddock, but Aquanita foreman Trent Penutto says the gelding is thriving.

"He just continues to thrive with what we are doing with him," said Penutto.

"He actually likes a fair bit of work between runs and blows hard after his gallops."

Racing in a rich vein of form currently Penutto believes that the $300,000 Launceston Cup in Tasmania could be an option.

"I think he has just hit his peak," joked Penutto.

"We will look towards the Launceston Cup with him and perhaps fish around the Mornington Cup as well, but it depends on how he pulls up."

According to apprentice Brent Evans it wasn't his toughest ride.

"He is a lovely horse to ride," said Evans.

"He does everything himself all you have to do is steer him," he added.

Another son of Hold That Tiger (USA), who currently stands at Swettenham Stud in Victoria, Apprehend has already accrued more than $350,000 in prizemoney in just his fourth year.

Up and coming Dash For Cash three year old Our Baby Bonus continued his winning run at Moonee Valley tonight against the toughest opposition he has come across so far.

After a sensational debut at Bendigo, where he streeted the opposition, Our Baby Bonus made the difficult transition to city class by winning his second start at his home track of Caulfield.

However tonight's race was his toughest test to date, with most of the field being city winners. Drawing the extreme outside in barrier 9 made his task even harder.

Damien Oliver had no hesitation in driving Our Baby Bonus out of the barrier to take the sit outside the speedy Canali. Oliver was content to sit there for most of the race, but after rounding the home turn he pushed Our Baby Bonus to the lead and the grey responded magnificently.

Although he wobbled for a couple of strides under pressure, Our Baby Bonus hit the line strongly to win well from Starry Eyed, while Canali weakened to third. The margin was three quarters of a length by a long neck.

"It was a gutsy effort, he had to use him and he had to find a bit under pressure but he had just enough fuel," Price said.

"I was relieved to get it out of the way. He'll go to the paddock in good order and he'll come back for a couple of races in the winter."