Thomas Stockdale will be riding on a high after his life-changing success aboard Unit Five in the $3 million Magic Millions Two-Year-Old Classic at the Gold Coast last week.
It was not only that result which buoyed Stockdale’s self-belief, but it was a peach of a ride that led to the outcome, in a race of such pressure, which defined what will forever be a special moment in Stockdale’s career.
He got the job done … so, perhaps, it is appropriate that the name of his feature race mount in the Group 3 Manfred Stakes at Caulfield on Saturday reflects last week’s achievement.
Stockdale rides the three-year-old chestnut Job Done in the Manfred Stakes.
He will ride for Mick Price and Michael Kent Jnr for the first time.
The son of Snitzel has shown plenty of potential, winning three of his five starts to date, including back-to-back wins at Caulfield in December.
Job Done’s last start was on January 3 at Geelong.
He finished third on that occasion, 1.50 lengths behind Jewel Bandit, who was making it two wins from two starts at the time … and a length behind his stable companion Frostnip, who had previously flexed her muscles when winning on debut.
Job Done will step up to 1200m here for the first time on Saturday.
It is an open betting race with Job Done on the second line of betting at $6 behind the $5 main fancy with online bookmakers, the Ciaron Maher-trained Salty Pearl.
Another three runners in the ten-horse field are quoted at odds of under $8, a fact which emphasises the keenness of the contest.
