Strawberry Boy, a horse owned by John Singleton and formerly trained by Gai Waterhouse, showed he is more than comfortable in his new Melbourne home with a game win at Flemington on Saturday.
Singleton transferred Strawberry Boy from the Waterhouse stable long before his latest falling out with the champion trainer after the gelding had shown promise in seven starts in Sydney.
Strawberry Boy winning the Spotless Handicap at Flemington - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
“We’re still learning about him, but he’s shown us a lot on the track and we feel he’s a spring horse,” Moody’s foreman Jeff O’Connor said.
Strawberry Boy had won a couple of restricted races early last spring and was then placed in two Group races before being sent south for reasons not revealed, although his departure came soon after the More Joyous Cox Plate barrier draw fiasco strained relations between owner and trainer.
O’Connor said a Brisbane winter program lay ahead for Strawberry Boy who was resuming at Flemington.
“We’ll have a look at Queensland, but we still haven’t worked out what distance range will suit him best,” O’Connor said.
“We know Gai had an opinion of him at 2400 metres, so he looks like he’s capable of a fair range.”
Strawberry Boy ($1.80) contested the lead throughout the 1400m of the Secondbite Handicap, but still proved too strong, scoring by a length from Good Value ($9) with a long neck to Offenders ($8.50) in third place.
