Trainer Kelly Schweida breathed a huge sigh of relief after his star galloper Better Than Ready showed he was back on track with a slashing win at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
In a race run at blistering pace, $3 favourite Better Than Ready lumped 60.5kg to beat Rocky King ($4) by 1-3/4 lengths with 2-3/4 lengths to Steel Zip ($17) in the Club Super Open Handicap (1000m).
The race time of 56.9 seconds was exceptional for 1000m at Eagle Farm into a headwind.
The leader-timed final 600m was run in 33.7 seconds which meant Better Than Ready got home in just on 33 seconds – a staggering effort under such a big weight.
Better Than Ready was having his first start since he finished last in the Group One Stradbroke Handicap in June but in between times he had been badly injured in a trackwork gallop.
Schweida had been planning to take Better Than Ready to Melbourne for the spring carnival but in early October the four-year-old stallion shied during a workout at Doomben and ploughed through a fence.
He suffered a chest wound which required eight stitches and also needed treatment to a testicle which had been driven into his body.
“He really was badly hurt and we were lucky to still have him with us,” Schweida said.
“Yes, it was a relief to see him do that today and to know he is back at his best.”
Better Then Ready will have only one more run this year in the Listed Keith Noud Quality (1200m) at Eagle Farm on November 23.
“We will then give him a break and come back for the Group One races such as the Oakleigh Plate and VRC Newmarket in the autumn. He deserves a chance in those race,” Schweida said.
Meanwhile, jockey Shannon Apthorpe scored his first metropolitan win when Miss Mega Herz took out the Coca Cola Amatil Handicap (1000m).
Apthorpe, 38, has been riding for 23 years without a city success although he has hundreds of country wins including four at Kumbia on Melbourne Cup day.
More than 30 of his friends and family were on hand to cheer him home on the Oakey-trained Miss Mega Herz.
