Boomer Baily had plenty against him but he did not let anything stop him winning the Waikouaiti Cup yesterday.
The Graeme Telfer-trained pacer sprinted quickly up the Waikouaiti passing lane for driver Dexter Dunn to grab the richest of his nine career wins.
According to his driver, the style of his victory went against everything that usually suits the bold front-running type.
"He hasn’t really got a sprint on him, but he sort of rounded up. He is one of those horses that once he winds into it he really gets going.
"I couldn’t stop him after the line, actually."
One thing that did go the pacer’s way was the start of the race. The horse’s great standing start manners play a big role in helping him find his preferred on-speed position.
"When he hits it, he hits it. He can really begin fast and you get a good spot."
Dunn took a contrasting passage on Marshall Star to win race 12.
After settling well back in the field from his 18 barrier draw, the driver made a quick move entering the back straight the last time and dashed the horse to the front.
From there, the pacer strode away to a bold victory, which took his record to five wins on grass tracks. Boomer Bailey’s win in the cup took his record on grass tracks to four wins and 12 placings from 26 starts. Acolyte added to his strong grass track record too, with his second placing, beaten a neck.
Although he was defeated, driver Matt Anderson was more than happy with the effort of fixed-odds favourite Costa Del Magnifico.
Anderson spent most of the race chasing hard to catch the field with the 45m backmarker.
The difference between winning and finishing third, beaten a neck and half a length, might have been that the horses in front of Costa Del Magnifico did not take Anderson into the race as well as he hoped, he said.
The horse has the Northern Southland Cup on March 11, as his next assignment, trainer Brent Shirley said.
- Jonny Turner
