Hong Kong stayer Dominant finished a creditable fifth today, on his Australian debut, in the AUD$500,000 Group 1 Ranvet Stakes (2000m) at Rosehill in Sydney.
The seven-year-old John Moore trainee settled fourth in the field of seven but was left flat-footed when the sprint went on. The son of Cacique rallied late to finish 3.6 lengths behind the Godolphin-owned winner Contributer who has won four of his five starts in Australia.
"I was happy with that," said Moore, "the way the race was run was not ideal, slow early and then the sprint home. He just couldn't quicken with a couple of the others but was staying on. He will improve with this run under his belt and we'll step up his work on the track to have him ready for the Sydney Cup where I'm sure the distance will suit him."
The AUD1.6 million G1 Sydney Cup, over 3200m, will be run at Randwick on 11 April.
Contributer, ridden by James McDonald and trained by John O'Shea, won the Ranvet by 1.3 lengths from Japan's Tosen Stardom with Lucia Valentina the same margin further back in third place. Dominant, in fifth, split last year's Ranvet winner Silent Achiever (fourth) and last year's G1 Epsom Handicap winner He's Your Man, sixth.
