King Spirit, ridden by Montana Philpot, wins the first on the Caloundra poly track.
WRITTEN Tycoon three-year-old Warna has broken through at his fourth career start.
The gelding, ridden by Kyle Wilson-Taylor, won a Maiden Plate (1400m) on the Sunshine Coast poly track as $2.05 favourite yesterday (Sunday, March 30).
He was untroubled in winning by two-and-a-quarter lengths after nothing went right for him at his last outing over a mile.
Stable representative Bayley Kendrick said Warna was a big horse who “had no idea what he was doing” early on.
“We’ve taken our time with him, and he’s improved every step of the way,” he said.
“We’ve never lost faith, and he’s repaid that today.”
Wilson-Taylor said connections were a bit worried about Warna’s ability early on.
“But he continues to impress and has just taken the steps as they’ve come,” he said.
Wilson-Taylor said he had wanted to lead from the good gate, but when he didn’t have the pace he took a sit behind the leader and ensured he could manoeuvre out to the middle of the track.
The horse then unleashed its big-striding finish.
The win marked a double in the first two races of the meeting, with King Spirit, another three-year-old, winning the first.
King Spirit ($1.90-fav), ridden by apprentice Montana Philpot, led all the way from the inside draw to win a QTIS 3YO Benchmark 58 (1100m) by a similar margin to Warna.
Bayley Kendrick said the stable loved the poly.
“A lot of our horses do a lot of their work on it, and they handle it well,” he said.
“You still get some that don’t but the majority (do) … It’s always good for us when we get on the poly.”