A James McDonald peach saw Skyman prove too strong in the Listed Rowley Mile at Hawkesbury on Thursday afternoon.
After jumping from barrier one, the seven-year-old gelding landed in the box seat behind the odds-on favourite, Cross Talk, before peeling off that horse’s back to win the $185,000 feature race.
Trained by Chris Waller, Skyman made it back-to-back Listed victories following his cruisy 2.5-length victory in the McKell Cup (2000m) at Rosehill on June 18.
Waller saddled up five horses in the race, including runner-up Oscar Zulu, but it was the horse who was heavily supported with online bookmakers that reigned supreme, giving the Sydney-based trainer his fifth Rowley Mile.
“The Waller army coming after him now.”
A fifth Rowley Mile for @cwallerracing as Skyman claims the @hawkesburyrc feature from stablemate Oscar Zulu, they ran down the favourite Cross Talk who finishes third. @tabcomau pic.twitter.com/H7d7zYAkd5
— Racing NSW (@racing_nsw) August 18, 2022
“It was textbook stuff; James kept it pretty simple, sat in a perfect position, stopped, came off heels and he probably thought ‘what’s Oscar (Zulu) doing here running me so close?’, but it was a great race,” Waller’s stable representative Jack Pilkington said post-race.
“I’d say we’ll keep going through these nice big handicaps – gradually building him up.
“He’s picking up great prizemoney at the moment with his last couple of wins, so onwards and upwards.
“He can probably go back out to 2000m as well, but he’s rising and doing a very good job at the moment.”
James McDonald partnered Waller’s Mister Sea Wolf to victory in the Rowley back in 2018, so it was pleasing for him to collect a second win in the race on such an “ultimate professional” like Skyman.
“He’s the ultimate professional,” McDonald said.
“Beautifully prepared with two trials under his belt, he had that good ping in his legs and he showed that good turn of foot that he possesses at the furlong.
“It was a beautiful tempo and he was able to get in a pretty good rhythm the whole way, but he’s a class horse and I’m sure – obviously that’s his sort of level – but there’s plenty of races around for him.”
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