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Free Of Doubt continues to repay the faith of his trainer Jason Petch after the gelding recorded the second Flemington victory of his career in Saturday’s $80,000 Ellerslie/Santa Anita Park Handicap (1400m).

Purchased by Petch as yearling for $260,000 at the 2011 Inglis Premier Yearling Sale, today’s win took the son of Not A Single Doubt’s career-earning to in excess of $180,000.

Full of praise for jockey Craig Newitt, Petch said it was a perfect ride.

“He’s a tricky horse, he can shut the engines down if they cross him so he’s just got to be kept in front and kept honest,” Petch said.

“Even 100m out he just looked like he was going to get beaten but he just kicked back and I’m very proud of the horse.”

Racing on the outside of the leader Loot ‘N’ Run ($12), the pair kicked clear at the top of the straight before Free Of Doubt ($26) prevailed by a short-head over Loot ‘N’ Run at the finish, with Morant ($17) a further half-neck away in third.

Jockey Craig Newitt said Free Of Doubt was the perfect example of a horse that seemed to benefit from him wearing spurs on his riding boots.

“He really responds to them (spurs), a lot of these older horses do and they probably don’t appreciate the whip as much as leg work,” Newitt said.

“He had a good think about it when he hit the front but luckily he put his head out.”

By Ben Asgari – @BenAsgariRacing