It was hard to imagine I Wish I Win being more impressive than his four-length Caulfield romp at his Australian debut in Sunday’s $175,000 Testa Rossa Stakes, but the former Kiwi gelding pulled it off.
The Peter Moody-trained rising star came from what seemed like an impossible position to win the 1300-metre Listed event.
I Wish I Win was held up in traffic for the first half of the long Sandown straight, but exploded once clear to run down classy gelding Ayrton.
While most watching would have wondered from the 500m whether the son of Savabeel was going to get the chance to repay the faith of punters who backed him into $1.70, jockey Luke Nolen had faith in the four-year-old.
“I knew I was alright,” he said. “I knew I was on the best horse in the race. I was confident.
“I did get tight for a stride, but he was very good through the line. Patience is a virtue. We were nice a patient and it paid off.”
Adding further merit to the win was that I Wish I Win end up with a length to spare over Ayrton ($3.70), while $51 pop Bandersnatch powered home to be just a short-head away third.
The Group 1 Toorak Handicap (1600m) on October 8 is the likely next start for I Wish I Win, who ran at Sandown after missing a run in the previous week’s Group 1 Sir Rupert Clarke Stakes, for which he is now TAB’s $2.80 favourite.
“He feels like an elite horse, so we’ll have some fun with him for sure,” Nolen said.
