The mercury climbed over 40 degrees at the Wellington Race Club on Sunday but it was no sweat for Dubbo jockey Greg Ryan.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The experienced country hoop instead kept a cool head, fending off a persistent Carinda Road (Shane McGovern, $21) to guide Cool One ($1.60 favourite) to victory in the Keirle’s Pharmacy Class 1 and Maiden Plate (1700 metres).
It was the first win of her career for the Garry White-trained mare, who sat comfortably in second before striking into the lead with 600m remaining.
“She’s a really, really dour mare,” Ryan told Sky Thoroughbred Racing.
“Top of the straight I picked up the tempo and I just thought I’d drop Carinda Road straight off but he just kept on coming all the way at me – right to the winning post he just wouldn’t go away.
“But she’s just out and out dour, she’ll just stay and just sort of get up there in a rhythm and just she’ll stay all day.”
Stay she did, fighting all the way to the post to clinch victory by almost half a length.
“She’s a nice, Dane Shadow mare and she always tries her hardest – sometimes she just tries a little too hard throughout the running,” Garry White stable foreman Ash Borg told Sky Thoroughbred Racing.
“But she did well and Greg did a good job to just ease her up to it rather than just let her sort of take charge and run off.”
Now with her maiden win under her belt, Ryan predicted Garry White would look to extend the Dane Shadow x Zeltrice (NZ) progeny.
“Once she gets up in class she’ll probably have to go a bit further,” the respected local hoop said.
“When she comes back to this distance here, the better horses will kick better than her so she’ll probably want a bit further.
“But you know she had that run over 10 furlongs at Kembla Grange the other day, and came back to 1700 here, weaker company, as I say we got to the three furlong and just let her slide and just said ‘oh the best horse will stay in’, which she did in the end.”
“She can just be a little bit unreasonable sometimes so for, he did make the right decision for her so we’re very pleased with the result,” Borg said.
Second was also a pleasing result for Clint Lundholm’s Power Of Destiny x Lade Fire gelding, who was called up as an emergency starter following a number of scratchings.
Just 10 horses started the $22,000 race, with Garry Lunn’s Comzig (Qin Yong, $21) rounding our the final places 2.48 lengths back.
The win was one of many for Ryan across the day, who labelled the temperature as “bearable”.
“But it’s going to be hotter in the middle of the week so I’m glad I’m racing today and not on Thursday when it’s going to be hotter again.”
