Historic treble for Warwick champion

Material Man etched his name into the record books when he produced one of the best wins of his career in the Group 3 Strickland Stakes (2000m) at Belmont Park on Saturday.

Despite being caught three wide from the 1000m, Material Man proved his class to become the first horse to win the Belmont Sprint, the Hyperion Stakes and the Strickland Stakes treble.

Connections and punters had a few anxious moments when the raging $1.50 favourite was forced to work hard in a muddling-run race.

Material Man worked his way to the front at the 200m and held off a late burst from Pounamu ($4.20) to win by a short neck.

Gatting ($8.50) was third.

Trainer Justin Warwick will now turn his attention to a tilt at the Melbourne spring carnival for Material Man.

“When you’re three-deep without cover from the 800 onwards and you’re main danger’s stalking you, I thought he (Pounamu) was going to get over us today,” Warwick said.

“Everyone knows how good Pounamu is. We’ve had some good tussles along the way and I’m glad we had our head in front.

“I think Lucy (Warwick’s jockey daughter) summed it up pretty well.

“You’re on the best horse and you keep them in the clear.

“He’s taken us for a good ride and we’ll try keep him in one piece and keep the ride going for as long as we can.”

Lucy Warwick said she put her faith in Material Man when she made her move from midfield, only to be trapped wide.

“I knew the best spot for him to be was out of trouble,” she said.

“The only query I had was whether I was towing Pounamu into the race.

“He held on just in the nick of time.

“It was a bit like the Perth Cup all over again.

“He’s just an amazing horse.”

Material Man improved his record to 14 wins from 23 starts and more than $1.31 million in prizemoney.