Jarrod Robinson’s promising young stayer Equine Philosopher has posted back-to-back wins, following up his maiden victory at Echuca last month with a dominant front-running display at Donald last Sunday.
Sent straight to the front by regular rider Mikaela Lawrence, the four-year-old maintained a solid gallop throughout the 2000-metre contest.
Lawrence appears to have a productive rapport with the gelding, whose stamina came to the fore in the final stages as he strode clear to win by an impressive 4½-length margin as a $5.50 chance.
Robinson said after his maiden win that the Unencumbered gelding raced best with a break between runs, and he had 17 days between that Echuca win and the 0-58 contest last Sunday.
Watch for Magic
Slade Bloodstock’s in-form mare It’s Kind of Magic, appears to have returned from a brief let-up in good order for Bendigo trainer Brent Stanley, recording a soft jumpout win at Echuca on Monday morning.
The five-year-old by So You Think will be aiming for a hat trick of wins when she returns to the races, following on from winter wins at Ballarat and Gawler.
Stablemate I Am News (also in the Slade colours) might be one to follow as he went through the line nicely to win his heat.
The Press Statement gelding is still a maiden, but looks to have improved from a break ahead of his second racing preparation.
He had two starts in his first racing prep — a fifth on debut in a city maiden at Sandown and a fourth at Werribee.
Keep an eye out for him in a maiden soon, as a win might not be far away.
Babies step out
Although it was only a short three-horse heat, we got an early look at some new-season two-year-olds from the Bendigo stables at Monday’s jumpouts.
Kym Hann’s Torremore won the gallop and looked very professional given his inexperience. The More Than Ready colt is well bred, being a half-brother to stakes placegetter Sassy Salitage (trained by Greg Eurell) and winning stablemate Gloves Are Off.
Brent Stanley had the remaining pair — unnamed chestnut fillies by Japanese-bred stallions Maurice and Mikki Isle.
Both stretched out nicely and will no doubt benefit from this early experience at the trials.