Further Group 1 glory for in-form Almanzor

Crack sprinter First Five continued the red-hot form of resident stallion Almanzor with an explosive display to triumph in the G1 Telegraph at Trentham.

The patiently handled five-year-old joined Gezora (French Oaks, Breeders’ Cup Filly & Mare), Circle Of Fire (Sydney Cup) and Manzoice (VRC Derby) as top-flight winners sired by our son of Wootton Bassett.

Successful in the G3 J Swap Sprint at his previous outing, First Five travelled easily in third spot before hitting the front halfway down the straight and powered to the line to score by a length and give trainer David Greene his maiden Group 1 victory.

“This is unbelievable really and thanks be to God as we have been waiting for a while,” Greene said.

“It’s pretty special and just great to do it with this group of owners. To win a Group 1, weight-for-age race at Trentham, well it doesn’t get any better than this.”

Bred by part-owner Gerald Shand, First Five is a son of the multiple-winning Volksraad mare Payette and was ridden by Wiremu Pinn.

“When I did the form, I couldn’t put together the puzzle so I thought I’m just going to wing it and luckily it worked,” Pinn said.

“He was a bit of a sitting duck as he had a good look at the winning post, but he is a really exciting horse.”

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