The Mike Moroney stable holds loftier plans for Snapper after the sprinter landed his first win at stakes level at Flemington.
Snapper led throughout to claim the Group 3 Standish Handicap (1200m) on Saturday with the stable hoping the five-year-old will return to the track in a couple of months for a Group 1 sprint.
The Moroney stable won last year’s Group 1 Newmarket Handicap with Roch ‘N’ Horse and may aim Snapper at this year’s 1200m sprint down the famous Flemington straight.
Ridden by Jye Mcneil, Snapper ($5) led throughout to defeat the $4 favourite Rose Quartz by three-quarters-of-a-length with Dawn Passage ($9.50) the same margin away third.
Snapper won during Melbourne Cup week over 1100m before disappointing the stable when seventh in a benchmark 84 grade race over 1200m on December 17.
Moroney’s assistant trainer Glen Thompson said the gelding was underdone that day and the stable was expecting a better performance on Saturday.
“Mike thought he was a little bit underdone last time, but he worked super on Tuesday, and we’ve seen the best of him today,” Thompson said.
“He’s well above average and he’ll continue going through the grades and could find himself in better races later in the campaign.”
While a winner of two of his past three starts on the Flemington straight track, Thompson said he was equally as effective at Moonee Valley.
“He kicks off that corner and is a good handy horse, a little bit under-rated,” Thompson said.
“He’ll win better races than this, hopefully. There’s a lot of races for him at The Valley now and he could even be a lightweight chance in the Newmarket.
“He ran really well in the William Reid Stakes last year, so there are plenty of options.”
After a two-month stint riding in Hong Kong, Melbourne Cup winning jockey McNeil returned to Melbourne late last year, returning to riding at Sandown on Wednesday.
Saturday’s victory on Snapper was his first winner back.
“It’s good to get a few rides and importantly get a win early on,” McNeil said.
“The stable has been going really well and he was presented in really good order today.
“They were a little bit concerned at the 1200 metres down the straight, so I had that in the back of my mind not to go too soon, but I ended up dropping my whip and making a mess of it.
“But it all ended up OK.”
