The John Size mid-season surge expected by many in the past two months didn't really eventuate, but the Australian trainer managed to make some minor inroads into the championship lead with Rich Unicorn and Sapelli.
The double took him to 34 wins and 11 behind leader John Moore, while only Tony Cruz landed a victory of the three trainers ahead of him on the table, but for Sapelli (Olivier Doleuze), his narrow win over Victor Delight in the 1,800m Amber Handicap was fitting reward for some consistent recent form.
Sapelli's last win was in April last year, but this season he has returned a cheque in all but two of his 10 starts, the latest two finishing second over 1,600m.
'He is super consistent, very honest, and those sorts of horses really deserve to win a race,' said Size. 'But it isn't that easy to do because they do need to lift their rating to be successful. Today he got a decent tempo and the extra 200m on the mile races he's been in lately and he took advantage of the opportunity.'
Although last to the turn, Doleuze said he made a point of coming out and starting his run a little early on the five-year-old.
'The pace was the main concern but when he got that, I just wanted to make sure he got a proper chance to run at them because he tries very hard,' he said. 'I think he enjoyed the jar being out of the track today, too.'