Last season’s boom two-year-old Velocious made her raceday return after a tie-back wind operation in stunning fashion when she stormed home from a clear last on the home bend to take out the Manco 1150 (1150m) at Te Aroha.
The Stephen Marsh-prepared daughter of Written Tycoon had been off the scene since finishing near last in the Group 3 Gold Trail Stakes (1200m) at Hastings in September, where she was immediately operated on to alleviate her breathing issues.
Given a long and slow build-up that saw her trial on three occasions before stepping out on Saturday, the winner of the Group 1 Sistema Stakes (1200m) and Karaka Million 2YO (1200m) had been expected to perform at a high level upon return with the caveat being whether she could recapture her best after the throat surgery.
Ridden by Courtney Barnes, who had piloted five of the nine winners on the card at Wingatui twenty-four hours earlier, Velocious settled a clear last in the open contest as Miss Bo Peep set up a steady pace in front with topweight Lhasa alongside her throughout.
That pair turned in front and looked set to fight out the finish as Barnes drew Velocious to the outside to make her finishing run.
Just as Lhasa edged clear and looked set for victory, Velocious put in several huge bounds to hit the lead inside the 50m and draw away for a comfortable 1.5 length victory.
Stable representative Rhys Mildon echoed the sentiments of many when he welcomed the filly back with a mixture of joy and relief.
“It’s an amazing job that Stephen has done by bringing her very slowly with three trials after the wind op,” Mildon said.
“He was confident she could return in good style and when she let down it almost brought a tear to the eye.
“You can trial all you like but it’s about raceday and she gave them a start and a beating today.
“It was awesome to see.”
Barnes admitted that her race plans had changed dramatically once the filly was slow away from the starting gates.
“Stephen told me not to panic and not to get her pulling and I definitely did that,” Barnes laughed.
“She had been in the gates a little bit and was rocking around, standing awkwardly and didn’t get away the best.
“She came up onto the bridle and trucked around the corner and I felt she was definitely going to let down.
“It’s great to see a good horse back.”
Horse racing news