A horse that set his owner back by $750,000 has finally recouped a sizeable chunk of the hefty investment on Friday night.

Sagittarius, who used to race as O’Borio in New Zealand, was a handy galloper back home where he even ran second in a Group 1 race, the Thorndon Mile in 2006. The O’Reilly six-year-old unsurprisingly commanded a significant price tag when the Starcap Stable No 3 made approaches to buy him.

The O’Reilly six-year-old was far from being an instant jackpot for his connections with ordinary runs until a surprise second in an Open race under Sheryl Cheam at the whopping odds of $760 for a win last April.

Benny Woodworth puts one behind Sagittarius to ensure Race 6 is in their keeping.
 

Jockey Benny Woodworth, who rides regularly for the Starcap Stable then got on board and the combination have yielded three placings from four starts, until they struck paydirt on Friday in the $125,000 Open Class race (1400m).

Sent out as an even-money favourite, Saigttarius proved too strong inside the final furlong when Woodworth peeled him down the middle of the track for his run. Blade Liger (Ng Kok Keong) boxed on well for second three parts of a length away.

“He’s had a lot of problems with his suspensory ligaments which Johnny (Meagher) had almost rectified when I got him,” said Burridge of the formerly Meagher-trained galloper.

“Obviously, with a horse like him, it wasn’t easy to train him. He had to be trained pretty lightly and swum a lot just to keep him fit.

“The day he ran second with Sheryl was the day I knew he was coming on. Benny seems to go well for him and I must say it was also Benny’s first win for me and I hope it won't be the last!”

Woodworth then went on to net a treble for the day, having scored in Race 1 aboard Famous Overnight, then wrapping up the night with an all-the-way win with Perfect Sky, bringing his win-tally to 22. Burridge on his part sealed a double when Promise Me Gold spreadeagled his rivals in the $75,000 Class 3 race (1400m).

Recast, who was making his racing reappearance since his bright second to Jay Peg in last May’s Singapore Airlines International Cup, finished sixth for trainer Laurie Laxon, who was not too disappointed with the run.

“I thought it wasn’t a bad run first-up behind a very good horse in the winner. The distance was too short for him and he should improve a lot from that run,” said the champion trainer.

“He will keep on running in lead-up races and will probably head towards the Raffles Cup.”