It was red-letter day for Henry Dwyer Racing as the stable went three from three on Day 2 of the Mildura Cup Carnival, with Gaius, Exlover and The Siscos Kid all saluting in their respective races.
Jake Duffy rode a stable double onboard Exlover and The Siscos Kid and Jack Martin won on Gaius, with each ride timed to perfection to get the winning result for connections, who unfortunately couldn’t be trackside to soak up the win due to restrictions.
It was a case of what might have been for the stable, with Star of Manhattan and Vistabelle both running in Morphettville and a chance to add further wins to the stable’s tally for the day, however torrential rain saw the meeting postponed to a later date.
Gauis got the winning day underway, with the three-year old son of Written Tycoon breaking his maiden at his fourth start in a grinding win under Jack Martin.
“It was a good win, we had to dig deep late, but I think the blinkers going on really helped him as he travelled really smoothly and every time I asked him for an effort, he responded,” said Martin.
“It was a good win by this horse, it was only a narrow margin, but it was a better win that it looked given he covered ground from the get go and he was exposed to the strong head-wind the whole way around,” said Henry.
“He was really game late, he didn’t shirk his task at all and grinded away to win well on the line.”
Exlover followed suit in the following race, where he broke through for his maiden win at start five, following a good second last start at Ballarat on the synthetic.
Rated a $10 chance, he always looked the winner in the straight, gobbling up the leaders and running away from them on the line.
“He really appreciated that 1000 metre tempo today, he gave me a really good feel and travelled into the race really well, I don’t think he appreciated the stick much so I nursed him along and he kept finding, which was good,” said Duffy.
“He did a good job to get his maiden win out of the way today, it was a good solid win and a good ride by Jake,” said Henry.
“It was a pretty handy maiden today, so I think he can go on with it now and there is some decent upside for him, especially at this distance.”
The third of three winners came when even money favourite The Siscos Kid rode up to the market support to take out the Sunraysia Daily Handicap in the shadows of the post.
Jake Duffy again got the winning result, but this time he received no favours in the run, being stuck three wide for most of the trip.
“It was a good win, I was probably left in front a bit earlier than I would have liked as obviously he doesn’t mind having a little think about it, but he was good enough to get the job done anyway,” said Duffy.
“Now that he will step up in grade, I would probably look to ride him a bit more patiently to give him once last crack at them and he should be able to step up.”
“He put the writing on the wall after his last start, so it was good to get another win with him today,” said Henry.
“He hasn’t won by a huge margin, but as Jake said after the race, when he got to the front he got a bit lost and he just does enough to win, but that does seem to be him, so as he goes through the grades and up against better horses he should still be able to stick with them.
“He’s a very versatile horse, handles all conditions, all surfaces and can be placed in the run wherever the tempo dictates, so he’s going to be a good, fun horse going forward.”
Music to the ears of connections, today would have seen three sets of owners no doubt shouting at the televisions cheering on their respective horses to victory. Let’s hope next time, that cheering can be heard trackside.
Watch the replay here of Gaius winning