Shane Fliedner looks to have a nice horse on his hands in the talented but enigmatic Shamateur, who broke his maiden status at Bendigo on Wednesday. 
In the familiar surroundings of his home track, Shamateur ($3.70) was able to park outside the leader under regular rider Harry Coffey and take bad luck out of the equation. 
The three-year-old gelding has been a work in progress for Fliedner and Coffey, as it has taken maturity and race experience to iron out his quirks. 
“He brings his own bad luck sometimes; he’s still not furnished yet,” Fliedner said.
“He’s probably still 12 months away.” 
Despite the maiden win coming over 1100 metres, Fliedner believes the horse in future will be better suited at a longer distance, allowing him to roll to the lead at an easier tempo. 
Shamateur’s pedigree also suggests he has the scope to improve once he gets out over longer distances. He is by Cox Plate winner Shamus Award out of a British-bred mare whose first foal was a listed winner in South Africa over 3200 metres.
Condor heads for the Hill
Bendigo trainer Tim Fitzsimmons kept up a strong start to his Australian training career when Condor saluted at Mornington on Monday.
Condor has acclimatised well to his new surroundings, the ex-Singapore galloper now having won two of his three Australian runs with a second in between. 
The four-year-old appreciated the tight turns of the Mornington 1000-metre course, stalking the leader all the way. 
Jockey Ryan Houston took Condor to the front entering the straight and the gelding went on to win the benchmark 58 contest by a length and a quarter. 
It was a popular result for punters as he started the $2.70 favourite. 
“He’s got a really quick sprint and put a couple of lengths on them,” Fitzsimmons said.
Fitzsimmons now has an eye on next month’s Swan Hill Cup carnival for the speedy customer. 
“There’s a 975-metre benchmark 64 on the first day so we’ll target that next,” he said.