The Muffin Man has broken through for his maiden victory at Sandown
Trainer Charlotte Littlefield had a little ‘nerve settler’ at Sandown as she prepares for a Group 1 contest at Moonee Valley.
Littlefield will saddle She’s Bulletproof in the Group 1 William Reid Stakes (1200m) on Saturday looking to overturn a heart-breaking second-place finish in the Group 1 Oakleigh Plate (1100m) at Caulfield last month.
She’s Bulletproof is Littlefield’s best performer, but the fight shown by The Muffin Man to land the Sportsbet Racing Form Plate (1400m) at Sandown on Wednesday suggests the gelding will be in for a successful career.
The Muffin Man races in the same colours as reigning Horse of the Year Pride Of Jenni and showed similar fight as Tony Ottobre’s champion mare despite Wednesday’s race being a maiden.
Sent out the online betting apps $1.50 favourite under Ethan Brown, The Muffin Man scored a three-quarter length win from Sumo Sandy ($6.50) with Puglia ($3.50) a half-neck away third.
While The Muffin Man registered a comfortable win, Littlefield said she was never comfortable with how the gelding was, right from before the race.
“He didn’t even want to come into the mounting yard,” Littlefield said.
“He’s such a ‘goofball’ and I think Tony would call him that as well. He’s still so raw and doing so much wrong.
“He was shying as he left the barriers and when he hit the front early, he was giving me some worrying signs, but to his credit he dug deep, stuck his head out, which is the sign of a good horse.”
Brown took The Muffin Man to the front at an easy tempo before ramping it up on the point of the home turn.
Being the short-priced favourite, it was expected The Muffin Man would run away from his rivals, but Littlefield was thrilled with the way he rounded the race off.
“All the horses around him had every right to run over the top of him, but his ears were flat back, and he wasn’t having a bar of it,” Littlefield said.
“That is the attributes of a good horse and hopefully that is just the start.”
