AAP
Leading trainer Darren Weir had mixed feelings after Humidor (NZ) (Teofilo) won the Blamey Stakes at Flemington.
While delighted with victory at Group Two level, he was perplexed with the flop of $2.40 favourite Tosen Stardom in the 1600m race.
"It's great for the connections of the winner but not so good for the connections of the other horse because he ran well below par," Weir said.
Ridden by Mark Zahra, Humidor ($3) defeated Cool Chap ($18) by a half-length with Hellova Street, backed from $6.50 to $4.40, three-quarters-of-a-length away third.
Tosen Stardom ran last of the five runners, 5-1/2 lengths behind the second last horse Odeon.
Humidor's defeat of the Lindsay Park-trained Cool Chap was welcome relief for Weir after finishing runner-up to that stable in the Australian Cup, Newmarket Handicap and Adelaide Cup last weekend.
Weir said Humidor would now head to the Gr.1 The Doncaster (1600m) at Randwick on April 7 and back up in the Gr.1 Queen Elizabeth Stakes (2000m) a week later.
"Humidor's had a great prep towards that and ideally I didn't want to see him lay in late as he can be tricky like that," Weir said.
"It looks like he's on track but I'm not sure about Tosen Stardom.”
Zahra said the slow early pace wasn't ideal for Humidor, but he was happy to be following the stablemate.
He expected Tosen Stardom to take him further into the race and then peel out late.
"I could see Brad (Rawiller) feeling for him before the bend," Zahra said.
"So I had to get going earlier than I wanted.
"He was out on his feet late and wanted to crash into them.
"I didn't ride him out as I was pulling him off the other horses and he was too good in the end."
Humidor was bred in New Zealand by John and Mark Carter and their sister Rachael under their Jomara Bloodstock banner.
The trio originally raced Humidor in New Zealand with Johno Benner and Hollie Wynyard, where he was a Group 3 winner, before selling a fifty percent interest in the horse and transferring him to Darren Weir.
A multiple Group One winner in Australia, Humidor is widely regarded as the second-best horse across the Tasman behind Winx.