Unbeaten Godolphin colt Viridine successfully stepped up to black-type racing at Randwick, upstaging favoured stablemate Malahat in the Listed Heritage Stakes.
For the first time in his three-race career Viridine produced an emphatic winning margin, pleasing assistant trainer Darren Beadman.
“He did a few things wrong early but when Brenton (Avdulla) asked him for an effort he stuck his head out and he really wanted to hit the line,” Beadman said.
“He’s a lovely colt. He delivered twice over the winter on soft tracks, only by small margins, where he got into difficulty a few times and got out of it.”
First-up on Saturday over 1100m, Viridine ($7) powered clear to win by 1-1/4 lengths.
Single Bullet ($6.50) resumed with a second and Albumin ($17) was a neck back in third.
“He’s only going to keep improving, he’s obviously three-from-three but his first two wins, he never put the field away. Today he put the race away at the furlong,” Avdulla said.
Favourite Malahat ($2.90) set the early pace after jumping from the outside gate but faded to fourth.
“Randwick’s not really is track,” Beadman said.
“He had to do a bit work from the wide gate. To me, he’s a Moonee Valley, Canterbury type horse where he can use his speed and run off the corners,.”
Godolphin’s third runner Marsupial ($3.60) battled on for fifth after missing the kick.
