Maximus Moonard gave trainer Tony McEvoy his third juvenile winner for the season when he finished powerfully to take out the Written Tycoon Champion Sire Stakes at Sandown.
The son of Fomalhaut belied his drift in the betting from $12 to $16 on Saturday to give Craig Williams a win in the Listed 1000m event at his first ride back from a well-publicised careless riding suspension.
Maximus Moonard winning the Written Tycoon Champion Sire Stakes (Listed) at Sandown - photo by Race Horse Photos Australia
Maximus Moonard came from last of the nine runners and swept home to score by 1-1/2 lengths from Timely Truce ($26) with Andre Hoo Roo ($3.60 fav) a short half-head away third.
McEvoy is heading towards January’s $2 million Magic Millions Classic (1200m) at the Gold Coast with Maximus Moonard.
He said he had had eight two-year-old runners so far this season with Jimando winning the Listed Debutants Stakes at Caulfield while Little Critter won at Morphettville, both last month.
Swipeline ran third at Moonee Valley on Cox Plate day .
“I bought 13 and five or six have been sent to us,” McEvoy said.
“It’s very exciting to have these horses up and running. It shows how good a facility we’ve got.
“Colin Hayes set it up that way and there have been many two-year-old winners trained off the place and it’s making us look good.”
Maximus Moonard is raced by McEvoy’s business partner Wayne Mitchell’s Pipeliner Bloodstock Pty Ltd and they have spent a lot of money on Kildalton Park, which is part of the old Lindsay Park set up by the late Colin Hayes at Angaston in South Australia.
“He’s probably a little bit behind Jimando but I thought he could come here and run in the top four and not embarrass us and he ran fantastic,” the trainer said.
McEvoy paid $26,000 for Maximus Moonard at the Adelaide Magic Million Sale.
“I thought I had him for $11,000 but the person who chimed in as the hammer was about to fall, they can take me to lunch,” he said.
“But he’s a really lovely horse. I had his sister who was a fantastic trackworker but she couldn’t quite produce it on game day and I was hoping this fellow could.”
AAP TURF
