Even-money favourite Mighty Glory finally handed trainer Patrick Shaw a much-needed win after a dry spell of nearly two months.
The South African handler had not visited the winner's enclosure since Mr Fantastic won on May 15 and had been experiencing a frustrating run of seconds since, but Mighty Glory has now become the horse to turn his fortunes around.
Besides breaking the duck for Shaw, Mighty Glory, a New Zealand-bred three-year-old finally opened his account after 14 winless starts to salute in the $75,000 Restricted Maiden race (1100m) on Friday.
After a couple of near-wins at his last few runs, hopes were high in his camp that he would open his account very soon.
“He ran a very nice race as expected and he did us proud,” said Shaw. “All thanks to Ricky (Ricardo Le Grange, his assistant-trainer) and the staff for preparing him well.”
Seeing that frontrunning tactics have suited his charge, Shaw decided to stick to the same pattern and it's finally paid off.
Jumping from barrier No 1, Mighty Glory was taken straight to the lead to go hugging the rails throughout. Upon hitting the straight, the son of O’Reilly gelding kicked away strongly to easily keep off the late challenge of Mr Jackson (Michael Rodd).
Mighty Glory ran the 1100m in 1min 5.4secs with Mr Jackson one-and-a-quarter lengths behind followed closely by Lucky Lincoln (Zulklifi Zuriman) a head away in third.
Vorster was very pleased with the way the race panned out and said that the distance was perfect for Mighty Glory.
“It’s great that he finally won a race and I am very happy with the pace today, it was perfect for him,” said the South African jockey. “He jumped well, gave his 100% and there were no problems throughout the run.
“His last run was over 1400m and I felt that it was too long for him and he should stick to 1100m or 1200m as it suits him better.”
After consulting with Vorster, Shaw has decided to keep to 1200m but he would like to tinker with his gears next.
“I will stick to 1200m and I will probably take off his blinkers next and see how he goes,” said Shaw.
Good things certainly come in threes for Shaw on Friday night as he actually went on to treble his score with two more winners, Majestic Moments in Race 5 and The General in the penultimate race.
