Outside barriers proved the key in the Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m) at Flemington as talented sprinter Disneck managed his first win at black type level.
In a field of 12, barriers 11 and 12 provided the exacta, with the resuming Disneck leading home a rough result for punters.
Sent out an $11 chance and ridden by Daniel Stackhouse, Disneck settled back but came widest, surging clear at the 200m mark to score by a length ahead of Extratwo ($41) who had a similar run with Contemporary ($101) a further long head away in third.
Race favourite Hedged was nearer the inside and never came on, beaten 6-1/4 lengths into tenth.
While Disneck’s best prior win had come at benchmark 94 level, the son of Trapeze Artist had run fifth, beaten two lengths by stablemate in the Group 3 Rising Fast Stakes (1200m) over the Flemington carnival.
A seemingly poor trial at Hawkesbury leading into this campaign, when beaten 6-3/4 lengths despite being under the whip had perhaps deterred punters, but Stackhouse was happy to back the stable in on the day.
“I spoke to the stable representative this morning and he said, ‘just ride him cold, give him his chance and justbe patient,” Stackhouse said.
“He’s got a great turn of foot. I wasn’t too concerned about his first up trial.
“I thought he’s really good when he’s fresh, he’s ran really well down the straight and I thought back on top of the ground, we mapped right, being out wide, trained by Bjorn Baker.
“A lot of ticks there, so I was very confident going forward.”
Stackhouse noted that the horse has run some strong races when ridden quietly and said that the race worked out perfectly on the day.
“The plan was to get back obviously and follow Mark Zahra (aboard Aviatress, 4th),” Stackhouse said.
“I knew his horse would give us a good run into the race.
“He’s really effective when he’s ridden cold like that. He’s got a great turn of foot and you can see that he’s got there too early.
“He pricked his ears when he got there but he just was going so well and he just put himself into the race that quickly, but it was a nice win and that’s a good start to his preparation.”
