It took until his ninth start but promising two-year-old Queenian broke through for an overdue victory at Rosehill on Saturday.
The youngster had finished in the minor placings in five of his previous eight starts without success, including second in the Group Three Kindergarten Stakes, but broke through in style in the Champs Cafe Handicap (1400m).
Sydney’s premier rider Nash Rawiller used his initiative and took the $2.50 favourite to the front and Queenian left his rivals behind after straightening to finish 5-1/4 lengths clear of Western Classic ($10) with Extraceed ($8.50) another three-quarters of a length away third.
“It’s about time,” a relieved trainer David Payne said.
“He’s been unlucky not to win before.”
Payne is undecided whether Queenian will have another run this preparation and believes the colt has a nice future.
“He’s a lovely, big strong horse,” he said.
“He’s well and he’s happy so we’ll just play it by ear and I’ll see how he pulls up.”
Queenian looked the likely winner at one stage in the straight at Rosehill two weeks ago but was forced to settle for third in a very close finish after overcoming trouble during the run.
Rawiller was mindful of having Queenian comfortable in running this time around which prompted his decision to let the colt stride to the lead.
“Dave (Payne) wanted me to get a bit of cover on the horse today because he’s still learning, but he jumped well and we got into all sorts of trouble the other day trying to do the right thing by the horse,” Rawiller said.
“I decided that if I could get into a nice rhythm and they were going to leave us alone then I’d ride him where he was happy and that’s what happened.”
Rawiller was impressed with the way Queenian attacked the line to space his rivals and expects the youngster to benefit from the experience.
“He’s just a bit of a baby still but I think he’ll take a lot out of this preparation,” Rawiller said.
“Now he has started to win it’s all looking up for him.”
AAP TURF
