Robert Heathcote says Bewhatyouwannabe accomplished his only winter carnival mission in winning the Members’ Handicap at Doomben on Saturday.
Heathcote is a realist and decided to target the Members Handicap instead of setting ambitious goals for the gelding during the Brisbane winter.
“It’s a Listed race which is important for the owners because they own the dam and she’s now produced a black-type winner,” he said.
“That box is ticked now and it’s tough to win a race at this time of year so you’ve got to be mindful of not setting the bar too high.”
Bewhatyouwannabe ($12) held off a late challenge from Epic ($6) to win by a neck with Trakstar ($11) a similar margin away third to give locally trained horses a clean sweep.
When reminded he had relegated fellow trainer Kelly Schweida to the runner-up stall, Heathcote was quick to produce a one-liner.
“Beating him (Schweida) is like winning a Group One,” Heathcote joked.
The script didn’t go entirely to plan for winning jockey Michael Cahill.
“Epic flushed me out a bit earlier than I wanted but I had plenty of horse underneath me and the way he travelled early in the race he was always going to be in the finish,” Cahill said.
Jockey Ric McMahon rated Baligari ($7), who dead-heated for fourth, the unlucky runner of the race.
“I couldn’t improve at the right time and being held up at the furlong cost me momentum but on the positive side he’s going really well,” he said.