Having played the bridesmaid role at his past three starts, Dragonstone finally got his moment in the sun, outclassing his rivals to capture the Listed Bob Charley AO Stakes at Randwick.
The diminutive gelding had twice finished runner-up to the smart Andermatt before bumping into another promising galloper in Passive Aggressive when second at Flemington last week.
Trainer Mark Newnham sent him to Randwick on a seven-day back-up and the three-year-old responded, showing his trademark burst of acceleration on the good 4 conditions to come from worse than midfield and score comfortably.
“He is a wonderful little horse,” Newnham said.
“He has been ever consistent. He has only missed a place once in his life.
“He has run into a few really nice types along the way, but he never performs poorly.
“This is actually only his second run on a good track and he has won them both, so as well as he does handle those wet tracks, he is probably more effective with his turn of foot on this type of ground.”
Celebrating his first stakes win since graduating to the senior riding ranks, Tom Sherry said he was mindful the gelding had a short, sharp sprint and he didn’t want to let him loose too early.
He need not have worried with Dragonstone ($3.20 fav) pouncing on his rivals and skipping clear to score by 1-3/4 lengths over Prime Candidate ($12) with Mamaragan ($8.50) another short head away third.
“He has been running well on heavys but he is only small, he has a big heart and he definitely appreciated getting back on a dry track,” Sherry said.
Newnham confirmed Dragonstone had earned a spell and shown enough promise to be considered for a spring campaign, nominating The Warra (1000m) at the stand-alone Kembla Grange meeting in November as a possible goal.
“It might be a nice target for him,” Newnham said.
