Corrupt enjoyed himself out there

There was a period in which Corrupt looked like his career was going to consist of plodding along into the places, but he's turned the corner with two wins from four starts this year - a gritty win over 2400m last month followed by a much easier, start-to finish success over 2600m on Thursday, 9 July.

It's taken patience from owner Laurence Wernars and the stable, but now that he's in winning form, Corrupt could work his way up from the handicaps to a stayer's feature. He loved being in control and striding freely, and coasted home.

Mathew de Kock said: "It's been a patient game in that he hasn't really delivered, but hopefully his two wins have given him a bit of confidence and he can carry on the way he is going. It seems like we've got him figured out now.

"He's a strong galloper and we've never had him ridden from the front. I was looking at his form today and was kind of scratching my head why not. He pulls, and we've always tried to get him cover. But we gave Keegan free rein today to let him stride and he rode it perfectly, stole the race."

Corrupt is a son of Erupt, bred by Andre Nel out of his Windrush mare, Lil' Bacio. He's a half-brother to stakes-winning stayer Zeus and the well-performed handicapper, Indian Ocean.