The use of tongue-tie for the first time proved decisive as Wow found redemption with a commanding victory in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race over 1200m.
Ridden by jockey John Powell for the first time, the New Zealand-bred gelding was in complete control of the race for juveniles to beat $12 favourite Bravo Charlie (Nooresh Juglall) by a length with Satellite Prince (Oscar Chavez) two lengths away in third. The winning time on the Short Course was 1min 10.97secs.
The O’Reilly two-year-old had struggled to make an impression at his last two starts, finishing third and then sixth in the past two months but trainer Shane Baertschiger was quick to forgive his galloper and never lost faith in the latest addition to the Auric Stable.
“He ran nicely at his first start and was a bit unlucky in the next after being stuck out wide and maybe overraced a bit,” said the Australian handler. “He’s a much better horse than that and once we put the tongue-tie on him he showed us some ability.
“It was also his first time on the turf after two starts on the Polytrack and I’ve always thought he’s a much better horse on the grass.”
The punters also shared his enthusiasm and Wow was well-supported just behind Bravo Charlie at $18 and the two youngsters distanced themselves from the other seven runners as they dominated proceedings from the start and turned the spectacle into a two-horse match-up.
Perhaps the only other moment of drama was provided by the Best Life whose apprentice jockey TR Barnabas was dislodged and fell off his mount within a few strides which left the Steven Lam-trained galloper to his own devices.
Proving more adept at handling his own horse with a textbook display of front-running was Powell, who picked up his 39th victory of the season and continues to maintain a strike rate at an enviable mark of over 20 per cent.
“Johnny rode him brilliant out there today,” said Baertschiger, whose runners has been the beneficiary of the heavyweight rider’s winning touch on 16 occasions so far this campaign. “Once he got him to the front he was able to dictate the pace from there and it was a very easy win in the end.”
The veteran Australian hoop will not get the chance to see if he can replicate this burgeoning partnership aboard Wow at next Sunday’s $200,000 Group 3 Juvenile Championship (1200m) though as Baertschiger has opted to send Wow for an extended break instead.
“I won’t back him up for the big race,” he said. “He’s had a couple of tough races and is going for a spell. He probably won’t race for another four months.”
Wow was purchased by Baertschiger for NZ$120,000 at last November’s Ready To Race Sale in New Zealand and has picked up just shy of S$50,000 during his short stint at Kranji.
