Team Hawkes and James McDonald have added the Hawkesbury Guineas to their autumn haul, combining with three-year-old gelding Chautauqua to win the Group 3 feature.
The trainer and jockey combination have been red hot this autumn and the run has continued at Hawkesbury (Saturday).
The Hawkesbury Gold Cup went their way when Leebaz recorded the sixth win of his brief, but impressive career, and the three-year-old feature was added to the haul less than an hour later.
Chautauqua ($4.50), a son of Encosta de Lago and Group 1-winning filly Lovely Jubly, came right through along the rails to defeat smart Kiwi filly Katie’s Cove ($5.50), with the Peter Snowden-trained Barbed ($10) back in third.
Co-trainer John Hawkes confirmed post-race that the lightly-raced Chautauqua, who has missed the quinella just once in his six starts, will now be taken to Scone for the $400,000 Inglis Guineas (1400m) on May 17.
“If he pulls up well then he will head to Scone for the Inglis Guineas which looks a very nice race for him then he can go to the paddock,” Hawkes said.
“That wasn’t the plan to be so far back, but James is a super young rider and he knows not to panic.
“He is a lovely horse this horse, and when he puts it all together, I think he will make a lovely four-year-old in the spring.”
– Racing Network
