Paximadia returns to form to win Carbine Club Stakes Paximadia proved too strong as a frontrunner in the Carbine Club Stakes. Peter Snowden's colt Paximadia is like most adolescents - fundamentally sound and decent - but with a tendency to sulk if they don't get their own way. The three year old, the equine equivalent of a teenager, is kilograms better if he is allowed to run his race the way he wants. And that is exactly what he did in the opening event of the Flemington four-day carnival, the Group 3 Carbine Club Stakes over 1600 metres. Paximadia, who started at the luxury odds of $10 , luxury for a Darley contender in a race which the stable had won twice in the previous four runnings - had a long neck in hand of the $2.05 shot Hucklebuck at the line, with Gai Waterhouse's Equator ($4.20) a length off in third spot. The winner produced a massive turnaround in form with Hucklebuck, who had beaten him by 7.7 lengths when the pair clashed last time out at Caulfield last month in the listed Gothic Stakes over 1400 m, which was 200 m less than the Carbine Club trip. But it wasn't so much the increase in distance that worked for the son of Commands but the manner in which the race was run. At Caulfield Paximadia wasn't able to lead and as a consequence he never really got going. It wasn't so much that he turned his toes up, said Snowden afterwards, but he just didn't like running in a pack and didn't have his mind on the job. It was a different story in the Carbine Club as McEvoy bounced him out of his number one stall, got straight to the front, slowed the tempo to suit himself and then kicked to pinch the break that would prove so important as the field gathered for the final charge in the last 100 metres. In truth Hucklebuck was never nearer than at the finish. His jockey, Dom Tourneur, elected to drop back as the South Australian challenger ran midfield and by the time he got him clear and ready to challenge, McEvoy's mount was flowing along in front with all the momentum he needed. This fellow looked disappointing at Caulfield but he just got in behind them and didn't enjoy it. I got him out there, got him rolling and he's a good galloper," said McEvoy. I cut out a fraction early in the first furlong to get that spot. I thought they would probably pressure me more but this fellow has done a good job, he's quickened up nicely and it's good to see him improve up to a mile and there's even scope for him to improve a bit further," the winning rider said. Snowden, Darley's head trainer, said that if he pulls up well from the race Paximadia could be aimed at the Group 2 Sandown Guineas, the last three-year-old feature of the carnival in a fortnight's time. "It was a tremendous ride by Kerrin," Snowden said. We made the blue and allowed another one to cross us the other day and he got shuffled back through the field. He's not the same horse when he gets shuffled back in the ruck. Today we announced we wanted to be positive and dictate the race and Kerrin grabbed the race by the scruff of the neck. Once he was allowed to dictate and back the speed off it allowed him to have a good finish. Snowden explained why Paximadia had been equipped with winkers for the first time. " I was bitterly disappointed with his run at Caulfield and we wanted to keep his mind thinking on what's ahead, not what's around him," Snowden said. He's a colt, they think a bit. You take that thinking away, you get a better result from some of them. He's genuine enough, but it's just to make him concentrate. He's had blinkers on in Brisbane, there was no significant change. Today I just wanted to make sure there were no excuses.