The benefit of the hills and numerous tracks at Lindsay Park’s training base at Euroa has paid a dividend with The Summit scoring at Moonee Valley.
A French-bred galloper that had shown above average ability in France before being sold to Hong Kong, The Summit landed a win in the Travis Harrison Cup (1600m) on Saturday at his second Australian start.
The Summit was trained in Hong Kong by David Hayes, but after suffering a tendon injury, the gelding was sent to Lindsay Park to recuperate.
After a long slow build-up under the guidance of Ben and J D Hayes, The Summit made his Australian debut finishing midfield at Flemington on June 17.
With added fitness and under the urgings of a recently returned Michael Dee from Hong Kong, The Summit ($17) got up in the last stride to claim Junipal ($18) with Interpretation ($21) in third place.
“It’s a big thrill,” Ben Hayes said of the win.
“If you look through his form, he has some very good international form and if we can get him back to his best, which he showed glimpses of today, he could be a horse that picks off some nice races in the spring.
“And that was ten-out-of-ten from Mickey.
“No doubt he will go up in the ratings now, so Will and J D and I will have to sit down now and come up with a plan.”
Before heading over to Hong Kong, Dee had partnered The Summit in a barrier trial at Tatura and thought he would be a nice horse to attach himself to upon his return.
Dee said he had planned to ride The Summit closer to the lead, but the gelding stepped slowly.
However, when the leader Urban Oasis shifted away from the fence, he able to save considerable ground on the gelding.
“I thought he was a bit disappointing at Flemington first-up, but that was his first run in a long time, and he obviously took a lot of improvement out of it, fitness wise,” Dee said.
“And I think he’s got more improvement to come. That was second-up, over a mile, so he’ll probably get out over a bit further as well.
“Once he balanced up in the straight and changed to his outside leg, he really attacked the line.”
Dee will remain in Melbourne for the approaching Spring Carnival after what he described as a good experience riding in Hong Kong.
“I had a good experience in Hong Kong and it’s something that most jockeys would like to do at some stage in their career,” Dee said.
“I’ve ticked that off now, but it’s good to be back, and I’m here and raring to go for the spring.”
