By Molly Haines
Jason Thompson quinelled the Group 1 Sapphire Crown (515m) at Sandown Park on Friday night, with Secret Bandit charging over the top of pre-race favourite and kennel mate – Distinction in a thrilling finish.
The victory delivered Secret Bandit her maiden Group 1 success, with the daughter of Bernardo and Panorama producing a powerful finishing burst to defeat her kennelmate in 29.20 seconds.
Trained in New South Wales by Jodie Lord before joining Team Thompson in Victoria, Secret Bandit has now won 14 races from 32 starts.
Distinction looked the winner for much of the journey after exploding from the boxes with a slick 5.03-second first split.
She opened up a sizeable lead down the back straight before Secret Bandit began to wind up approaching the home turn, eventually grabbing her in the shadows of the post to score by just over a length.
Secret Bandit wins the Group 1 Sapphire Crown from box five in a time of 29.20 seconds.
“She was unreal… I still can’t believe it,” handler Holly Thompson said post-race.
Secret Bandit had only three starts in Victoria prior to Friday night’s feature, with her first appearance at Sandown Park earlier this month resulting in a fourth placing behind Geelong Cup winner Paw Matic.
“Her first run for us was just like a trial,” Thompson said.
“I was pretty happy to see her begin and sit behind Distinction tonight – both were class dogs.”
The Sapphire Crown completed a massive night for the Thompson and Lord partnership, who also combined to win the Group 1 Sandown Cup (715m) with Ayden’s Warrior.
