Dalton gave the Hawkes Racing team some consolation for missing a Magic Millions start when he scored a comfortable win in the Bollinger Handicap at Eagle Farm on Saturday.
The colt was beaten by subsequent Magic Millions winner Real Surreal at his previous start at Eagle Farm and didn’t earn enough prize money to make it into the field for the feature Gold Coast juvenile event.
“It makes Real Surreal’s form look good because he won with a bit of authority,” winning jockey Michael Cahill said.
Starting at prohibitive odds of $1.30, Dalton’s win wasn’t without incident when he over-raced badly and was checked mid-race.
“Coming to the turn he wanted to get racing and got up onto their heels so I had to check him,” Cahill said.
“Once he got to the outside straightening up I was pretty confident he’d be too good for them. It turned out a pretty soft win.”
Meanwhile, jockey Ryan Wiggins believes a subtle change in riding tactics proved the catalyst for Sam’s Town to rediscover winning form in the Hidden Dragon @ Lyndhurst Handicap (2128m).
The seven-year-old settled in third place on the fence for Wiggins before surging clear to win by three-quarters of a length from Break The Ice.
“They went pretty steady which allowed me to ride him a bit further forward than I normally would and I always felt he had them covered,” Wiggins said.
“Once I got the better of Mr Light Blue at the top of the straight I was always going to be pretty sweet.”
