The Group 3 Rough Habit winner Ballistic Boy added the Mooloolaba Cup to his list of victories when he stormed home late to grab a thrilling win at the Sunshine Coast on Saturday.
It was an important win for the Chris Anderson trained son of Smart Missile who was second-up after a five month break away from race action following the Winter Carnival.
In his first-up run he had shown to great advantage when only failing to run down Red Chase by a length showing his appetite for action in his first run as a four-year-old and he again emphasised that welcome trait with this Saturday’s winning effort.
“I guess the most pleasing thing is that he has come back from a three-year-old to Open company and he has taken that next step,” said Anderson.
“To see him taking that next step is the biggest thing for me because there is always that question mark when they come to Open grade against tougher, older horses.
“I have always said when he was a three-year-old that he would be a better four-year-old and now I think I can say he is going to be a better five-year-old. He just gets better as he goes along … so time is a big asset to him.
“There was a lot of authority in the win today. The second horse got all the favours up the fence … he didn’t go around a horse. Probably in hindsight that horse didn’t see us coming but, in the concluding stages, Ballistic Boy found that extra effort and that is what you want your horse giving when it matters … that extra effort.
“We came here obviously hoping that we would win, but there was no great expectation of victory. We just wanted him to be in his pattern heading towards the Magic Millions day race-day and we got that.
“We’ll see how he does in the next few days, but I am looking at the Magic Millions day … that is in the Subzero. Two weeks prior to that is the Shoot Out Quality over 2200m.
“So, now we have just got to work out where we go from now to the Shoot Out.”
