2023 Caulfield Guineas Winner Is Griff at 30/1

[Wandering Eyes]

The Ciaron Maher & David Eustace-trained Griff showed plenty of greenness in his Group 1 debut but, despite a dramatic finish, proved too good for his rivals in the Group 1 $3 million Neds Caulfield Guineas (1600m).

2023 Caulfield Guineas winner Griff was wayward late but still very good taking out the Group 1 mile event. Photo: Ultimate Racing Photos.

The Trapeze Artist colt fired up out of the gates for jockey Ben Melham leading from barrier to box to beat home Veight by one and three-quarter lengths in the mile feature in Melbourne.

Third in the Caulfield Guineas trifecta when to the previously unbeaten Steparty coming off a win in the Prelude, which Veight had run fifth in.

Veight and his hoop Damian Lane were thrown off their line a few times over the closing stages by the wayward Griff, but trainers Tony & Calvin McEvoy opted not to lodge a protest after reviewing the tape.

“Obviously there was a bit of interference towards the end of the race, and just with respect to the owners of the horse and the punters, we went down to have a look at the film and decided not to throw in a protest,” co-trainer Calvin McEvoy told Racing.com.

“It was probably too close to the line, which was unfortunate as there was quite a bit of interference, but it probably needed to be further away from the winning post to be overturned.”

The challenge was on when Steparty peeled out three-wide approaching the turn to move up to Griff, but the eventual winner gave a strong kick at the furlong.

He spotted something to the side of the track with a few strides to go and made a sharp right turn, but his winning margin was too good to take much away from the up-and-comer.

“He began exceptionally well. When he began in the matter that he did, he rolled across and got across so easy,” Melham said.

“A really courageous effort by the horse. There he is now a Caulfield Guineas winner.”

Griff made it three straight wins with his Guineas triumph and two over the 1600m following a lead-up Group 2 Stutt Stakes (1600m) win at The Valley.

He became the first horse since Whobegotyou 15 years earlier to do the Stutt Stakes – Caulfield Guineas double.

“I think he obviously showed a little bit of greenness, but he got a beautiful ride by Ben,” co-trainer David Eustace said.

“He’s just kept improving and improving.

“He hasn’t put a foot wrong (since coming down to Victoria).

“Got in pretty easily and just judged it perfectly.

“He’s got a bright future the horse because he’s still furnishing.”

2023 Caulfield Guineas Results 

	Finish	No.	Horse	Trainer	Jockey	Margin	Bar.	Weight	Penalty	Starting Price
	1	6	GRIFF	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Melham		15	57kg		$31
	2	5	VEIGHT	Tony & Calvin McEvoy	Damian Lane	1.75L	1	57kg		$14
	3	4	STEPARTY	Paul Preusker	John Allen	2.75L	7	57kg		$3.70
	4	3	KING COLORADO	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Michael Dee	3.5L	8	57kg		$13
	5	1	MILITARIZE (NZ)	Chris Waller	Joao Moreira	4.25L	12	57kg		$2.60F
	6	11	VERDAD	Robbie Griffiths & Mathew de Kock	Beau Mertens	4.35L	14	57kg		$21
	7	7	SCHEELITE	Ken & Kasey Keys	Mark Zahra	4.85L	13	57kg		$14
	8	2	LITTLE BROSE	Ben, Will & JD Hayes	Damien Oliver	4.95L	10	57kg		$61
	9	9	SOUTHPORT TYCOON	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Harry Coffey	5.7L	4	57kg		$21
	10	8	SCENTIFY	Ciaron Maher & David Eustace	Ben Allen	6.7L	5	57kg		$14
	11	10	WOLFY (NZ)	Nick Ryan	Blake Shinn	8.95L	11	57kg		$16
	12	12	ROCK EMPIRE	Gai Waterhouse & Adrian Bott	Tim Clark	9.25L	3	57kg		$61
	13	13	LIMBURG	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jye McNeil	9.65L	9	57kg		$201
	14	14	COPACABANA	Michael, Wayne & John Hawkes	Jordan Childs	9.85L	6	57kg		$201
	15	15	THE LONGEST YARD	Matthew Brown	Brian Higgins	11.1L	2	57kg		$301

Table Credit: Racing Australia.

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