Howmuchdoyouloveme provoked an emotional reaction when he finally ended a luckless run with a resounding win at Rosehill.
Howmuchdoyouloveme had not won since his Group 3 WJ Healy Stakes success in Brisbane in 2013 as a succession of problems hindered trainer Con Karakatsanis in his quest to get the sprinter back to his best.
The son of Written Tycoon showed a glimpse of his best form two runs back at Rosehill before Karakatsanis gave him a break after he failed to beat a runner home in the Group 3 Show County Stakes.
"He had a month off after the Show County and he came back in great order,” Karakatsanis said.
Karakatsanis as his team worked tirelessly to get Howmuchdoyouloveme back to fitness and the seven-year-old gave them a welcome reward when he strode to victory in the Cellarbrations – Helping You Celebrate Handicap (1100m).
Apprentice Samantha Clenton brought Howmuchdoyouloveme with a well-timed run to score a dominant 1 ½ length win, producing tears and cheers on their return to scale.
"When you've got your family and my partner all here crying, it's a very special moment,” Karakatsanis said.
"To have this horse get back in the winners' circle with all the problems that he's had, it's a credit to everyone that's really done the right thing by this horse.
"I've always said there's still wings left in him and he just showed that he's still got that bit of class.
"And I couldn't have been happier leading into this run even though I was little bit worried about the heavy track after that little lay off.”
Congratulations and thank you to all involved with getting Howmuchdoyouloveme back to winning form.
His latest win was his eighth in 29 starts while the victory took his prizemoney tally to more than $655,000.
Click here to relive Howmuchdoyouloveme’s Rosehill win.
© MiStable 2015