He might not be the most intelligent galloper in the Robert Heathcote yard but lightly-raced gelding Firestorm proved at Eagle Farm on Wednesday his galloping ability made up for his lack of nous.
Having just his third career start Firestorm benefited from a copybook Paul Hammersley ride to score a resounding win in the Sky International Maiden Handicap (1400m).
Heathcote’s decision to put blinkers on Firestorm proved to be the right one and the leading trainer said the horse was bound for better things despite still being a work in progress.
“I’ll be blatantly honest – he’s a big, dumb bugger,” Heathcote said.
“But his work on the track has been much better than his form suggests and I’m leaning to giving him a break after this run.
“He’s got plenty of natural ability and I decided to add the blinkers to get the best out of him and it did the trick.”
The start of the race was delayed by almost 10 minutes when the Shaun McCarthy-trained Lady Carlson needed to be resaddled and a suitable girth could not be found.
Lady Carlson was subsequently scratched at the barrier.
Firestorm ($4.80) travelled sweetly in fourth spot one off the fence for Hammersley and the three-year-old Primus gelding responded strongly in the straight to beat the $2.40 favourite Bridies Boy by a half-length with Cobalt Blue ($11) the same margin away third.
Meanwhile, Eagle Farm trainer Barry Baldwin predicted a bright future for Judy’s Joy after the long odds-on favourite scored an impressive win in the www.brc.com.au Maiden Plate (1000m).
Judy’s Joy ($1.20) led throughout to notch a two-length win at just her second start and Baldwin said the flashy More Than Ready filly was bound for much better things.
“She’s got any amount of natural ability and she’s better than what she’s shown us so far,” Baldwin said.
“I think she can go on and win much better races but I’ll just take her through her classes for the moment.”
AAP TURF
