Thompson Hooked On A Winning Feeling

IF you didn't see it you almost wouldn't have believed it.

That's the most apt way to describe Hooked On Scotch's remarkable Group 1 Adelaide Cup victory at Angle Park on Friday night.

Booking his Adelaide Cup spot with an electrifying State Of Origin success a fortnight ago in 29.19, Hooked On Scotch was handed box one for his maiden group 1 assignment on Friday, coming at just start ten.

Showing ability that belies his 22-month old age tag, the son of Barcia Bale and Nicki Fields was considered one of three key chances for Friday night's SA feature, with dual group 1 winner Sennachie ($2.20) and classy sprinter Whiskey Riot ($5.50) right in betting also.

The race promised to be a cracking spectacle but no one could have envisaged what was to follow.

In a mad rush to the first turn where Whiskey Riot raced to the lead with Sennachie hot in pursuit, Hooked On Scotch lost his place and drifted off the track … losing all hope.

So it would seem anyway.

While all eyes were on the neck and neck battle between Whiskey Riot and Sennachie in the run home, Hooked On Scotch dropped from the clouds with a thunderous finish to snare a last stride triumph in 29.44.

Second was a gallant Whiskey Riot for Anthony Azzopardi just a head away, while ironically, Sennachie finished a neck away from Hooked On Scotch at the finish, the same margin he trailed him on the clock in the recent State Of Origin.

Hooked On Scotch – a younger half-brother to group 1 stars Poke The Bear and Out Of Range – cemented his Group 1 Topgun place with Friday's night's mind-boggling victory, delivering Jason and Seona Thompson back-to-back Adelaide Cups following Real Simple's 2018 success. Thompson now boasts five wins in the SA flagship event.

It may only be October … but be sure the Run Of The Year award was sewn up by Hooked On Scotch on Friday night as well. You can have a drink on that.

It was another red-letter night for Jason and Seona Thompson after their grand bitch Black Opium ran a scorching 29.46 to land her TAB Million Dollar Chase semi-final at Wentworth Park.

Meanwhile, Friday night's Adelaide Cup consolation was taken out by the Anthony Azzopardi-trained Seal the Deal in a sizzling 29.40, the son of Zambora Brockie posting slicker time than the cup final.

The meaning consolation had new life breathed into it after Azzopardi came agonizingly close to taking out the Adelaide Cup with Whiskey Riot later in the evening.

* PIC: courtesy Kurt Donsberg Photography