By Danny Matthews
The price may have been short this time though it was equally justified as Warwoven further staked his claim for favouritism towards the Magic Millions 2yo Classic by winning at Eagle Farm.
Fourteen days out from the $3 million 1200-metre Gold Coast highlight and trainer Bjorn Baker reiterated his opinion of the calibre of Warwoven ($1.65) among his previous two Classic winners, including O' Ole last year, after the colt's victory.
"It wasn't so much about today but more about having a hit out for two weeks' time in the Magic Millions," Baker said.
"The one thing he did today which I was very happy with was that he paraded beautifully and he was lovely and relaxed.
"If you didn't like him pre-race, after his parade you would have had to."
Ridden by Rachel King, Warwoven eased to the line winning by more than 3¼-lengths over second favourite Lumbini ($3.20) the Cody Collis-trained Leaves Of Lorien ($51) in third.
"I've been luck enough to win the Mafic Millions twice before and those horses have have great attitudes," Baker added.
"He's definitely got that and it carries you far in high pressure races at high pressure times of the year. We just have to try and hold him together for another two weeks.
With this second win after striking on debut at Randwick on December 20, Warwoven has been crunched across 2yo Classic markets firming from $3 into $2.20 for the January 17 feature while Lumbini eased from $4 to $8.
"It would have been amazing if we could have had him and Paradoxium in the race but we've also got Masvingo there and it is exciting."
Masvingo is at $26 across markets.
