Crocetti won’t be asked to go down the Guineas path twice this spring even after a crushing win in the $100,000 Northland Breeders’ Stakes at Ruakākā yesterday.
The exciting new arrival in the three-year-old ranks remained unbeaten at his third start when he bolted clear of rivals including a Group 2 winner in Trobriand.
He worked across the field to lead and was doing pacework for much of the race, and when jockey Warren Kennedy let him go at the top of the straight he raced to a four-and-a-half length win.
Local filly Dancing Dream was able to hold second after racing outside the leader, with Trobriand below his best in third, being left flat-footed in the trail and only warming up late.
The win saw Crocetti shorten into $4 favouritism for the 2000 Guineas at Riccarton in November, rarified air for trainers Danny Walker and Arron Tata, who only train 18 horses and also won with their other starter yesterday in Reverberations.