Wonderful has earned himself a well-deserved break after he reeled off a fourth consecutive victory for trainer Shane Baertschiger in the $100,000 Super Ninetyseven 2013 Stakes (1200m) on Sunday.
The penny seems to have finally dropped for the Hidden Dragon five-year-old since relocating to Baertschiger in May. His very first run for the Australian handler and jockey John Powell hit paydirt right away – with the combination having not tasted defeat since.
A one-time winner from his only Australian run (when known as Expectation under champion jockey Hugh Bowman at Canterbury) for Sydney premier Chris Waller, Wonderful had found the Kranji winning post more elusive, though he did come frustratingly close many times for his first Singapore handler Mark Walker – four seconds and one third from six outings.
But he has really blossomed since moving yards and the way he fought back all comers inside the 300m summed up the best the new heights he has scaled.
Baertschiger said he had to run Wonderful on Sunday or he would have not run until next year – which he will now do, anyways.
“I was going to spell him after his last run. It’s been six weeks between runs, but then he wouldn’t run until December,” said the Australian trainer.
“That’s when I changed my mind and decided he would go in for one more run.
“We wanted to be third or fourth but as nobody wanted to lead, he rolled forward and he’s won a nice race in the end.
“He’s a horse who can pull hard but Johnny knows him well and rode him a treat. The horse will go for a break and will come back next year.”
Powell echoed the trainer’s feelings that Wonderful was a horse you cannot knock around in the running and only then would he give you 100% back.
“Stretch said to run third or fourth, but he jumped so well that he landed in front,” said Powell.
“I didn’t want to hold him back as he can buckle. He’s the type of horse who doesn’t like to be pulled and he was always travelling well in front.
“He was going quite easy and I thought we were a big chance from a long way out.”
Sent out as the $14 favourite, Wonderful held off the strong challenge from Sun Pioneer (Wong Chin Chuen) to hit the line with half-a-length to spare while Castor (Troy See) stormed home late for third another three parts of a length away.
Wonderful has now brought his local record to four wins and five placings from 10 runs for a handy total of around $230,000 for his owner Lai Chan Cheong, who races many quality horses in Australia.
