Major sprint features are looming large on Mystic Park’s horizon after the classy local kicked off his five-year-old season with victory in Saturday’s Open Sprint (1000m) at Riccarton Park.
Mystic Park made barnstorming progress through the grades last season, winning four of his seven starts in increasingly impressive style.
The Ocean Park gelding won by four lengths in Rating 65 company first-up during the New Zealand Cup Carnival in November, then added two Rating 75 victories and an open handicap before the season was out.
Saturday’s 1000m dash was a significantly shorter first-up assignment than the 1200m and 1400m trips Mystic Park excelled over last season, but the exciting up-and-comer was nevertheless backed into $3.20 favouritism.
He produced a performance that had his trainers Michael and Matthew Pitman and jockey Sam Weatherley thinking about bigger and better things to come.
Mystic Park broke only fairly from gate seven, but strode forward through the first 200m of the race to take up a comfortable position alongside the front-running La Bella Nera.
Weatherley released the brakes at the top of the Riccarton straight and Mystic Park warmed into his work, slowly but surely edging ahead of La Bella Nera.
Mystic Park’s stablemate Third Decree chimed in on his outside with a determined challenge, but Mystic Park lifted again and held her out by three-quarters of a length.
La Bella Nera stuck on for third, another two and a half lengths adrift of the Pitman pair.
“He’s a good horse,” Weatherley said.
“He could potentially be a Telegraph (Group 1, 1200m) horse. He wasn’t fully screwed down today, but he really wanted to win. The stablemate came up to challenge him, and he just said ‘no chance’ and really pinned his ears back. He’s a lovely horse.”
“We knew that there would be speed in the race today, so we were hopeful that our two could just track in behind that speed and pick them up late,” Matthew Pitman said.
“The Parsons horse fought hard, but our two showed their class over the concluding stages.
“They’re both lightly raced and still have a bit of improvement. Hopefully they can go on to big things this season.”
Mystic Park stopped the clock at 56.29 seconds for 1000m on a Soft5 track.
“He can really run quick times,” Pitman said.
“He showed that with some of his closing sectionals in the autumn. We’re confident that he can go on to some nice races. He’s pretty quick, and especially when he relaxes like that. He’s a very good horse when he can relax in behind another runner that gives him something to follow. I think he’s hardly been beaten when that’s been the case.
“Hopefully a Stewards’ Stakes (Listed, 1200m) or Telegraph is calling him now, and then maybe Aussie further down the line.
“We’ll look at the carnival on our back doorstep for Third Decree too. She might go to a Canterbury Breeders’ Stakes (Group 3, 1400m).”
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