Grampians trainer Andrew Bobbin proved again on Tuesday that he has the golden touch when it comes to tried horses winning on debut for his stable.
Four-year-old gelding Jet Jitsu ($31) stormed home at the end of the 1204-metre trip at Donald to swamp his rivals and chalk up his maiden victory in eye-catching style.
In-form jockey Harry Coffey was forced rearward from a wide gate but the gelding travelled strongly into the race approaching the home bend. Coffey navigated to the outside part of the track to set out after the leaders, overhauling $1.50 favourite Matao Ma in the final strides.
Despite the price, the win came as no surprise to trainer Bobbin.
“He arrived with us as a talented horse looking for a race to win. Luckily, we were able to find it first up”, he said.
“He’s a good story, this horse. He went off the boil a bit with an injury that required surgery and it took time for him to recover.
“He’s pulled up well, he’s good. We’ll find another race for him in a couple of weeks.”
Bobbin indicated the son of Ajaya would likely step out next at Morphettville on September 3 over 1200 metres or Bendigo on September 8 at 1300 metres.
Formerly with Trent Busuttin and Natalie Young, Jet Jitsu was named here a fortnight ago as a horse to follow on the back of impressive jumpout form. I hope readers had a piece of the generous price!
One to follow
Speaking of Bobbin, the Stawell-based trainer will be looking for metropolitan success this spring with his talented filly Anphina.
The daughter of Rebel Dane had four starts in her two-year-old season, measuring up to city class with some strong performances out to 1600 metres. But the nought in the wins column is something the stable are looking to change before they get too ahead of themselves.
“She’s a nice horse, but I just want to win a race with her first,” Bobbin said of his spring aspirations. “She’ll kick off mid-September in the Wimmera. If all goes to plan we’ll head to a 1600-metre fillies race in town after that. I think she can feature in some nice three-year-old races in the city.”
Anphina holds a special place in the growing Grampians stable and could be one of the feelgood stories of the spring.
“She’s the first horse we ever bought,” Bobbin said. “We got her from the online auctions for just $4000. We had the property set up at the time but no stock, so I got the laptop and headed to the pub. She was bought over a schooner.”
Anphina is currently $201 in Thousand Guineas betting and will likely be in the nominations for the Kennedy Oaks at Flemington.
Stars step out
There was a touch of spring in the air — or the stalls at least — when St Arnaud hosted 14 jumpouts on Monday.
Warrnambool trainer Dan Bowman put stable stars Fortunate Kiss and Bubble Palace through their paces, and both runners look to have returned in terrific fashion, winning their respective heats.
Tom Dabernig’s multiple Group-3 winning mare Flying Mascot was given an easy time as she took out her star-studded heat, beating home Ciaron Maher/David Eustace runners Yonce, Sir Davy and Ascension.
While these runners all have spring goals in mind, ex-Lloyd Kennewell galloper Claudia Shiver, backed up her solid Murtoa jumput with another impressive performance for new trainer Andrew Bobbin.
The four-year-old mare will head to the races at Warracknabeal on Saturday week and will prove hard to beat in maiden company.
Going the distance
It’s a question that is likely to be asked at all good trivia nights — who won the first 2200-metre race at Donald? The answer, of course, is eight-year-old gelding Streusel ($7), trained at Mt Gambier by Wayne Walters. The Donald and District Racing Club tested the 11-furlong chute for the first time under race conditions on Tuesday, trumping the 2000-metre starting point for longest distance run at the track.