A year ago, the Chris and Corey Munce trained Payline made a mockery of his starting price of $21 to land the $1 million Magic Millions The Syndicate over 1100m at the Gold Coast … and now the chestnut son of Shooting To Win is back to defend that crown on Saturday.
Three runs after that win in The Syndicate, Payline ran the race of his life in the Doomben 10 000, fighting on late in a driving finish to finish a close up third, just 0.53 lengths behind the winner Sunshine in Paris and 0.31 lengths behind the second placed Rothfire, when again unwanted in the betting, this time starting at $51.
That result and his creditable effort in the Group 1 Stradbroke, where he finished unplaced but only 3.77 lengths behind the much vaunted War Machine, emboldened the Munce team who set Payline on an ambitious feature race campaign in Victoria incorporating five races from September 6 to November 1.
Those five races were made up of two Group 1’s (the Moir and the Manikato), two Group 2’s (in the Gilgai and the Linlithgow) and the Group 3 Moonga Stakes where he clashed with top tier horses such as, amongst others, Baraqiel, Charm Stone, Magic Time, Lady Shenandoah, Private Eye, Zou Sensation and Warnie.
While not striking gold, finishing on the fringe of the placings against such quality opposition, as Payline did on all five occasions, was more than a pass mark, particularly considering that Payline’s best placing was a fourth place, just 2.20 lengths behind Private Eye in the Moonga Stakes … and his closest finish was when he came home only 1.52 lengths behind Baraqiel in the Group 1 Moir.
Back home in Queensland, with just short of a two month freshen up, Payline resumed on home turf with a fourth-place finish when less than a length behind the smart Hidden Wealth in the Listed Falvelon over 1200m.
With that run under his belt … primed and capable … he clearly has the credentials to conquer The Syndicate once again.
Payline is the current race favourite at $2.50 with Golden Boom, who finished second to Payline in the race last year when a beaten $3.70 favourite, and Spywire on the next line of betting at $5,50.
