Bailey Wheeler gets Fat Fingers home down the middle of the track to kick off the double.
TWO excellent rides by promising apprentice Bailey Wheeler secured a back-to-back double for the stable at the Sunshine Coast Friday night meeting (March 3).
The three-kilo-claimer, kicked off the double for the combination when he found the crown of the track and lifted Fat Fingers to a win.
Starting $6, Fat Fingers made it two wins from her past four when she prevailed in a tight finish in a Benchmark 58 (1600m).
Fat Fingers, bought by mistake online from New Zealand because someone had “fat fingers” when clicking online, has now won two of six starts.
Wheeler’s ride in the next was even better, managing to jump Rose Of Duporth (main photo) in front before finding the box seat from the awkward draw of barrier 9.
She then chased down a tearaway leader to hit the lead and never looked in danger of being run down by old sparring partner Merseyside.
Trainer Stuart Kendrick said he couldn’t see much pace in the Class 4 (1400m) on paper, so instructed Wheeler to give her a squeeze when they jumped.
He said it was then up to the 18-year-old apprentice to see how things panned out.
Kendrick said when Rose Of Duporth was in front of Merseyside in the run he knew she was going to be hard to run down.
“He (Wheeler) rode her perfectly. It was great that the plan came together,” he said.
“They don’t always work out but it did tonight, which was great.”
Wheeler said he was “confident” of picking them up from the 600 metres.
He said Kendrick had also told him the horse only had a 200-metre sprint, so he waited as long as he could before asking her for a final effort.
“It’s easy when you’re on the best horse in the race.”
Rose of Duporth has now won three of her past four. She won a no metropolitan win race at the Sunshine Coast a couple of starts back and is now likely to head back to town.