Bill Thurlow’s top performers are still waiting in the wings ahead of the spring racing period, but that didn’t stop the Waverley horseman from picking up an impressive double at Woodville on Sunday.
After finishing a narrow second in the opener with Towrope, Thurlow collected his first winner of the meeting with progressive mare Ziggy Khan.
The five-year-old daughter of Mongolian Khan was having just her sixth start and broke maiden status a fortnight ago at Waverley, with the step-up to Rating 65 grade posing no issue to horse racing bookmakers who placed her in second-favouritism ($5) behind Moonlight Hustler ($4.20).
Apprentice jockey Triston Moodley eased the mare well back in the early stages as Fay Khan It took up the lead at a solid clip. Sliding closer passing the 800 metre mark, Ziggy Khan travelled strongly into the race and chased down Fay Khan It in the straight, crossing the line with her ears pricked and seemingly had plenty left in store.
Thurlow indicated the mare had endured an injury earlier in her career and was pleased for her connections, the Crawford brothers, to be rewarded for their efforts.
“I thought she went very well, she’s a progressive stayer and has always shown us a fair bit,” Thurlow said.
“It’s never easy to step-up from maidens to win your next grade, so I’m very happy with her.
“She needed all the time she had, but she did have an injury to her shoulder and the owners were very patient in nursing her back because it wasn’t the best. It’s a great reward for them.
“I would think she will go up a grade again now so we’ll just take it race by race with her.”
Later on the card, Battle Secret wasn’t to be outdone by his younger stablemate and earned the fourth success of his career. The seven-year-old was among the middle market for the Rating 75 contest, with talented mare Bozo on top in fresh state at $2.50.
In the hands of Masa Hashizume, Battle Secret was leisurely away from the gates and remained near the tail of the field through the running, with Carpe Diem taking over the pace making role along the back straight. Battle Secret strode effortlessly into contention nearing the home turn and showed plenty of fight to hold off the charge of Sweetjineen, scoring by a short head at the finish.
“I thought he was very diligent, he’s a horse that hasn’t been the easiest and had a tendon injury that set us back with him,” Thurlow said.
“We had to take him along very quietly and he’ll probably be a better horse over more ground, but coming back from that injury, he has done very well.
“We’ll step up over ground next and play it by air, we’ll keep him in the company that we feel he can be capable of winning in.”
A son of Battle Paint, Battle Secret has been successful in four of his 24 starts and earned over $61,000 in stakes for a large ownership group, which includes a number of his breeders.
Back in Waverley, Thurlow is hoping to build on what was a highly successful season last term, with Listed Warstep Stakes (2000m) winner No Rain Ever and Group One winner No Compromise both set to return to the trials at short notice.
“We have a few really nice horses coming back to the trials soon, including No Rain Ever, No Compromise and Frank The Tank,” he said.
“We haven’t rushed them, we didn’t bring them back really early but they are ticking over nicely and will probably trial next week at Foxton.
“They will miss the early Hawke’s Bay stuff as that wasn’t on our radar, but one of them may be there for the last day.
“We’ve got a really nice team building up and we’ll find some nice races for them this season.”
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