Nature Strip co-owned by Rod Lyons was originally expected to race in the Dubai World Cup and if he had gone to Dubai, he would have returned very disappointed. However, his connections took him down a different route in the end. He secured a dashing two-length win in Saturday's T.J. Smith Stakes at Randwick.
The Chris Waller-trained son of Nicconi beat five-time Gr.1 winner Santa Ana Lane, dual The Everest winner Redzel and Godolphin's star 3YO Bivouac, Loving Gaby and Exceedance.
The Gr.2 Challenge Stakes winner claimed his fourth Group One win by defeating Santa Ana Lane who held off Redzel second place. .
Saturday's race, which followed victory in the , was the first time Nature Strip registered back-to-back victories since winter 2018.
He has now won 14 of his 23 starts, including four Gr.1 wins in the past 13 months. His maiden elite-level success came in last year's The Galaxy (1100m), while he also won the Moir Stakes (1000m) and VRC Sprint Classic (1200m) last spring.
Full Finishing list 2020: 1st Nature Strip, C. Waller, J. McDonald, 2nd Santa Ana Lane, L. Freedman, T. Clark, 3rd Redzel, P. Snowden, K. McEvoy, 4th Pierata, G. Hickman, T. Berry, 5th Tofane, M. Moroney, O. Bosson, 6th Bivouac, J. Cummings, H. Bowman, 7th Trekking, J. Cummings, J. Parr, 8th In Her Time, K. Lees, B. Avdulla, 9th Exceedance, M. Hawkes, S. Clipperton, 10th White Moss, J. Coyle, K. O'Hara.