Exciting prospect Fitzroy showed he had not lost an iota of his ability after he decimated his Class 4 rivals for a most emphatic win on Friday night.
The now four-year-old son of Swiss Ace was one among trainer Cliff Brown’s embarrassment of riches in the three-year-old races earlier in the year, with the honours going to Debt Collector while Fitzroy did not lose any friends with his efforts, not forgetting the “unlucky” tag he was slapped with by most pundits.
Spelled for three months, Fitzroy returned with some handy trials and an overall demeanour that oozed better strength and fitness.
His nine rivals in the $60,000 Class 4 Division 1 race over 1200m did not take long to be at the receiving end of such marked improvement.
Striding to the front without jockey Michael Rodd so much as giving him a dig-up, Fitzroy was in cruise control right through to the point of turn where it soon became clear he would be toying with the rest, so comfortable and fluid was his action.
Rodd just gave him a slight squeeze and Fitzroy instantly gave them the slip to go and score by a widening margin that in the end stopped at five lengths from Pratt Street (Glen Boss) with Elusive Emperor (Barend Vorster) third another 1 ¼ lengths away. The winning time was 1min 10.45secs for the 1200m on the Short Course.
Brown was obviously pleased with the winning comeback of one of his better finds this year, but preferred not to get too carried away at this stage.
“He’s a very nice horse, but he’s still got a long way to go towards his ultimate objective,” said the Australian without elaborating further on that long-range goal.
“The winkers helped him to concentrate better. He’s always been above average and his run in the Singapore Guineas (closing fourth to stablemate Debt Collector) was fantastic.
“But he has now grown mentally and has come back generally fitter and stronger. They were going 25 ½ early and for him to finish off the way he did was pretty impressive.”
Rodd, who is also Debt Collector’s regular partner, jumped off with a big grin and a thumbs-up.
“It’s great to ride this horse as he’s always shown ability from Day 1,” said the Australian jockey.
“When the other horses came next to him, he didn’t grab the bit, but once he changed his legs, he just left them behind.
“Cliff has done a great job to bring him back to this level and get him to win first-up, even if it’s true he didn’t beat much.
“He’s an exciting horse for sure, but I think Debt Collector is a horse that has a bit more scope over more ground. Can’t complain as I’m getting a chance to ride two very good horses for Cliff.”
With that second success, Fitzroy, who was backed down to $8 favouritism, has now taken his earnings past the $110,000 mark for his connections.
