INGRATIATING IMPRESSIVE IN VAIN STAKES WIN

Ingratiating wins G3 Vain Stakes

It looked as though it was going to be General Beau and Generation who were going to battle all the way to the line before Damien Oliver went from last to first on Ingratiating and won the Group 3 Vain Stakes.

Ingratiating came into the race already a winner twice at listed level and with placings in the Golden Slipper and Blue Diamond he had the credentials to do something special.

The win took Damien Oliver to three wins in the Vain Stakes after winning in 2001 and 2010 and he had nothing but praise for the bay colt after claiming a third.

“They haven’t been making up so much ground so far today and he settled off them,” Oliver said.

“He quickened up really good around the bend and I felt, once I got halfway down the straight, I didn’t have to pick him up with the whip at all and he won nicely.

“It’s not easy for them when they’ve had a busy two-year-old season sometimes, they don’t get a big break between.

“He has developed nicely, he has definitely filled out a little bit which is what you want to see from two to three.”

Godolphin’s Melbourn foreman Sean Keogh, said Ingratiating’s wins down the Flemington straight as well as Saturday’s victory warranted a look at the Coolmore Stud Stakes in November.

Oliver was quick quick to echo those sentiments.

“I think there are a lot of options for him,” Oliver said.

“To me, he is essentially a sprinter - 1200m to 1400m is probably his best distance.

“There has always been very little between him and Anamoe.

“I’ve actually felt this horse is probably a little bit more precocious than Anamoe.

“Anamoe as you saw when he got to the 1400m he really came into his own.

“I’ve always had a lot of time for this horse.”

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