Henry Dwyer’s productive association with the Ballarat synthetic surface continued on Tuesday when four-year-old gelding, Palatial Prince ($5), broke his maiden over 1200-metres. Jockey Damien Thornton settled at the rear of the ten-horse field from an outside gate, but his mount delivered a sustained run from the top of the home bend and skipped past Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s French Comet ($8) in the last 50-metres to claim the prize.

Settling rearward wasn’t part of the pre-race plans, but Dwyer was impressed with his runner’s turn of foot when the sprint went on. “Things didn’t go as planned. We wanted to be forward and probably outside the leader”, the Ballarat trainer said. “I thought he drew away late and, given he was first up and there should be good improvement to come, I thought it was a pretty good effort”.

The win came with an unexpected bonus for Dwyer, whose father-in-law (and Ballarat Turf Club Chairman), Bill Gribble, is in the ownership group. “He actually just called me son after the race for the first time ever. He doesn’t call me son when they lose”, he joked.

Dwyer explained that he would look for another start on the synthetic track in the coming weeks, aiming for a 1200-metre race in benchmark-58 grade. “He should almost be able to win another one on the bounce which would be good”, he said. “He’s a funny sort of horse, he only does what he has to. But when asked, there is something there. He’s definitely improved from last prep to this prep”.

The son of Xtravagant’s win was full of merit, making significant ground in the home straight when few could during a program that leant itself to on-speed runners.

Henry Dwyer’s productive association with the Ballarat synthetic surface continued on Tuesday when four-year-old gelding, Palatial Prince ($5), broke his maiden over 1200-metres. Jockey Damien Thornton settled at the rear of the ten-horse field from an outside gate, but his mount delivered a sustained run from the top of the home bend and skipped past Tony and Calvin McEvoy’s French Comet ($8) in the last 50-metres to claim the prize.

Settling rearward wasn’t part of the pre-race plans, but Dwyer was impressed with his runner’s turn of foot when the sprint went on. “Things didn’t go as planned. We wanted to be forward and probably outside the leader”, the Ballarat trainer said. “I thought he drew away late and, given he was first up and there should be good improvement to come, I thought it was a pretty good effort”.

The win came with an unexpected bonus for Dwyer, whose father-in-law (and Ballarat Turf Club Chairman), Bill Gribble, is in the ownership group. “He actually just called me son after the race for the first time ever. He doesn’t call me son when they lose”, he joked.

Dwyer explained that he would look for another start on the synthetic track in the coming weeks, aiming for a 1200-metre race in benchmark-58 grade. “He should almost be able to win another one on the bounce which would be good”, he said. “He’s a funny sort of horse, he only does what he has to. But when asked, there is something there. He’s definitely improved from last prep to this prep”.

The son of Xtravagant’s win was full of merit, making significant ground in the home straight when few could during a program that leant itself to on-speed runners.