A week in racing made an enormous difference for trainer Les Ross after his two-year-old Mishani Honcho reaped a $220,000 payday on Saturday.
Ross went to the Gold Coast last week confident he could win the Magic Millions Classic with his filly Frequendly but she was never a chance and finished unplaced.
Mishani Honcho ($5.50) helped ease the pain of that defeat when he charged home to win the Racing Minister’s 2YO Classic (1200m) at Sunshine Coast.
The gelding picked up $220,500 made up of first prize of $96,000, a QTIS bonus of $24,500 and a $100,000 bonus for a horse which raced in Magic Millions or BJ McLachlan Stakes.
“Mishani Honcho’s win is the result of a long-range plan. I actually put him in the McLachlan (at the Gold Coast three weeks ago) because he wasn’t a Magic Millions horse,” Ross said.
“I thought he would run second to the odds-on favourite in that race and would be eligible for this race today.
“But he won the McLachlan and now he has won this. Racing really is a strange business. A week can make an amazing difference.”
Mishani Honcho was bred by Ross’s biggest client in Mick Crooks and has now won $422,000 in prize money.
The favourite Pepperano ($2.70) finished 12th but jockey Damian Browne reported she was badly checked twice in the straight.
Trainer Kelso Wood believes he has a Queensland Oaks filly on his hands in Elitist who won the HMR Projects Handicap (1800m).
Wood originally thought Elitist ($11) could win last year’s Magic Millions Classic after she won a barrier trial by a big margin before she raced.
“I was on the phone to her owner David Devine at the time and I told him I had just seen his next Magic Millions winner,” Wood said.
“But nothing has gone right since. It has taken a long time to work her out.”
Wood said he would probably give Elitist a let-up and bring her back for the Oaks at Doomben in late May.
