There was no stopping the Paul Messara-trained Akasawa in Sunday’s $40,000 Gunnedah Cup (1600m), with the five-year-old cantering in for what can only be described as an arrogant 4.52 lengths victory.
The handicappers tried their best to pull him up, allotting the Scone galloper 63.5kg, and Messara didn’t opt for an apprentice, with in-form heavyweight jockey Aaron Bullock taking the ride.
It wasn’t an easy field either, with Kris Lees starting a team of four, including Baltic Coast and Rogue Bear, while recent Parkes Cup win Osman loomed as a lightweight danger from the Mack Griffith yard.
Still, ridden a treat by Bullock, Akasawa ($1.95) conquered his rivals, easily defeating the John Ramsey-trained Barellan Bandit (Grant Buckley, $61), while in third and almost seven lengths off the pace was the Kris Lees-trained Baltic Coast (Dylan Gibbons, $7.50).
“It’s unbelievable, really,” Messara said.
“We came here to get a ticket in the big one (Big Dance), and he’s done that with 63.5kg; it was quite unbelievable.”
After commencing nicely from gate three, Bullock was potentially caught in a tricky spot when boxed in on the inside as rivals cruised past the pair.
Despite his position, Bullock stuck to his guns before an opening appeared, and in the blink of an eye, Akasawa was in front, turning for home, and from there, he was never headed.
“Listen, I take my hat off to Aaron; unbelievable run,” Messara said.
“Mid-run, I thought we were in a bit of strife; we needed a momentum race and momentum run, and it looked like it wasn’t going to happen, and all of a sudden, it went from nothing to everything in a few strides, and it was just a fantastic pilot and great effort by Aaron.”
By Real Impact and out of Forest City Girl, Akasawa has been a terrific campaigner for connections, starting 13 times for eight wins and two minor placings while earning over $300,000 in prize money.
He won the Hunter-North West 2023 Country Championships qualifier at Tamworth in February before running into a wet track for the $500,000 Country Championships final at Royal Randwick in early April.
He’s since landed a metropolitan win at Scone for their standalone meeting earlier this month, and following his Gunnedah Cup win, he is bound for the $3 million Big Dance, which will be run and won at Royal Randwick on the first Tuesday in November.
“I loved the stallion; I ended up with a couple of them left over from the sale, and he was one,” Messara said.
“They have big hearts and keep trying, so I’m delighted to win another one, and I was confident if we went to town next week, he’d win again, but it wouldn’t have got us the ticket into the big one (Big Dance), and that was the purpose of the day, and now it’s done.
“He’ll go for a rest now; no matter what happens, we’ll give him a break and look to bring him back for that race, and that will be the next big prep for him.”
In a massive day of racing at Gunnedah, the Lightning Handicap (1000m) was taken out by the Justin Bowen-trained Upside.
Darryl ‘Digger’ McLellan gave Upside ($12) a good ride, with the pair winning by a half-length from the Gavin Groth-trained Foreign Brother (Matthew Palmer, $18), while in third and 2.34 lengths off the winner was the Brett Robb-trained Moetta (Ben Looker, $10).
For results, click here.
