Connections of lightly raced colt Oregon believe he will only get better heading into his three-year-old season after breaking his maiden at the third attempt at Canterbury.
Trained by Peter and Paul Snowden and ridden by Kerrin McEvoy, Oregon made his own luck in front against a small field in Wednesday’s All Too Hard @ Vinery Handicap (1250m) for two-year-old colts and geldings in heavy conditions before going on to score by 1-1/4-lengths.
Paul Snowden said the colt would likely have a short break to get him on the right path to potentially compete during the spring and autumn carnivals.
“He’s a nice type of colt,” Snowden told Sky Thoroughbred Central.
“It’s maybe a bit before his time this time in, because he’s still very immature, but time is going to be his best friend.
“We’ll give him a break and try to get him in step with things a bit later in the year.”
Oregon hit the line well from back in the field for third on debut over the same distance at Canterbury last month before stepping up to 1400m and finishing fourth to Achiever at Randwick in his second outing.
“He’s still learning his craft but it was a nice stylish win today,” McEvoy said.
The Matthew Smith-trained Sprout Wings finished strongly to win Wednesday’s Harry Angel @ Darley Handicap (1250m) for two-year-old fillies by three quarters of a length at her second start and jockey Nash Rawiller was impressed by the performance.
“She’s still very early in her career and still learning things but she’s got a good amount of ability,” Rawiller said.
Godolphin-owned three-year-old filly Varda turned in the most dominant victory on the six-race program, speeding along in front and kicking away to win the TAB Handicap (1100m) by five lengths in her first start since November.
“She’s naturally very quick and she just hit the ground running,” jockey Rachel King said.
“She wanted to get on with it a bit early but once she got those couple of furlongs in the middle where she did relax and breathe, I knew she was going to be strong at the end.”
It was Varda’s second win at her seventh career start.
