Wild Heart has shown clinical control at Warwick Farm as the Hawkes Racing-trained gelding recorded his maiden victory with comparative ease in heavy going.
The two-year-old got off the mark on Monday when he held off the Peter Ronl-trained Curdled by a long neck on the 2YO Maiden (1200m).
He was a late pick-up ride for Hugh Bowman with Tommy Berry missing the meeting through illness.
“It was a nice win. Hughie’s summed it up in the first 50 metres. Nothing really wanted to lead. He jumped, went forward, just nursed him,” co-trainer Michael Hawkes said.
“It was a good, solid effort. It’s a heavy track. It’s pretty testing out there but he got the job done.
“He came up from Melbourne. Wayne (Hawkes) thought there was nothing much between this bloke and Royal Phoenix.”
Royal Phoenix broke his maiden at Flemington on Saturday when he finished in a dead heat with the Chris Waller-trained Andaz.
Hawkes said there were no particular plans for Wild Heart over winter.
“He’s just going to keep improving with time. That’s all he really needed,” he said.
Bowman was impressed with the youngster was having his second start having run a close second to Andaz on debut at Geelong last month.
“He jumped very well. He settled nice in front and he appreciated when the pressure came and he had something to help him focus,” Bowman said.
“At the top of the straight when I let him go I thought he was going to win easy but he’s inclined to just wander a little bit in his own mind the last 100 metres.
“Although it was a short margin, he’s got nice improvement to come.”
