Jockey Ethan Brown cannot wait for Fast Witness to get onto a firm surface despite a heavy track win at stakes level at Moonee Valley.
Having his third race start, Fast Witness took out the Listed McKenzie Stakes (1200m) on Saturday which followed a Cranbourne maiden win on August 4.
Fast Witness is yet to race on a dry track with all starts coming on heavy ground.
Settling behind the pace, Fast Witness ($8.50) got up in the last bound to defeat the leader Shalaman ($6.50) by a short-half-head with El Padrino ($7) a neck away third.
Fast Witness had blinkers added to his gear on Saturday which Brown said aided the colt in chasing down Shalaman.
“He’s taken natural improvement from the Cranbourne win and the blinkers helped,” Brown said.
“He’s a very nice horse and there was a bit of merit to that win. The leader had it soft and I had to pull him out early, but once we straightened, he knuckled down to his job.
“He wanted to win that race and he’ll be better on top of the ground.
“He’s a beauty.”
Fast Witness is prepared by Ciaron Maher and David Eustace and while the colt holds a nomination for the Group 1 Golden Rose Stakes and the Caulfield Guineas, Eustace said they were unlikely to be too ambitious at this stage.
“I feel like he will get 1400 metres, that will be fine, but just whether he stays here and runs in the Exford Plate or the Guineas Prelude,” Eustace said.
“His win at Cranbourne was a ‘classic colty win’. He had the ability there but didn’t quite knuckle down to his task.
“He had worn blinkers prior to that at home, so they went on today.
“He jumped well, travelled nice and strong and got a lovely ride from Ethan who has been doing a lot of work through winter and has had a lot of faith in the horse.”
