Bendigo trainer Brent Stanley looks to have a promising young horse on his hands in The Bantam, an impressive first-up winner at Echuca last Sunday.
The stable pulled off a betting plunge too, with The Bantam opening at $8 in early markets and backed all the way into $2.50 SP favourite at jump time in the 1200-metre maiden.
Stanley has always had a lot of time for the three-year-old son of Hellbent, having tested him out in group company towards the back end of his first racing preparation.
Resuming as a gelding, The Bantam still did a few things wrong — missing the start and running out on the home turn — but he was still able to produce an impressive turn of foot late to get up in the last stride.
“He’s going to get better with time and racing. Onwards and upwards from here,” Stanley said.
Stanley purchased The Bantam for $70,000 at the 2023 Inglis Classic yearling sale. He’d kept him as a colt prior to this preparation to help him grow and mature.
Jockey Rhys Mcleod believes there’s still plenty of upside with the horse. “He was off the bridle early and lost his way around the turn,” he said. “(He’s) a pretty raw horse who’s going to want further.”
Stanley will look to test McLeod’s theory soon, stepping the gelding up in distance next start as he looks to progress through the grades.