|
Trainer Steven Burridge gave jockey John Powell all the credit for steering
Golden Scalpel to his first victory on Friday.
The Fusaichi Pegasus four-year-old had had 12 runs under his
belt for seven placings, but under a copybook ride by Powell, was able
to find the line and score by 1 ¼ lengths from Double Dose
(Erasmus Aslam), with Supreme General (V Sivan) third another half a length
away.
The winning time was 1min 36.9secs for the 1600m of the $35,000 Maiden
race.
Golden Scalpel opens his winning account under John Powell.
“Finally! He owes his first win to John,” said Burridge.
“John rated him beautifully. He’s an amazing judge of pace and
that was the big key to his success tonight.
“I thought Sir Alex would lead and I told him if he or any
other runner wants to lead, to take a sit in second.
“But as he jumped the best, he got to the front and the rest
was easy. He had things his way in front and kept going all the way.
“I think he also likes a bit of give in the ground. Tonight’s
yielding track may have helped.”
Powell, who was getting the leg-up aboard the Hippocrates
Stable-owned galloper for the first time, was delighted he was the one who
had been able to break the deadlock.
“He jumped good and had a lovely run throughout,” said Powell.
“I tried not to hit him too early as I know he’s got a short sprint.
“He was lucky no-one really challenged him. All the while I
was trying to work out the best way for him to win a race.”
Despite being at his maiden win, Golden Scalpel, who started
joint $26 favourite with Dollars & Cents, had already recouped a
big chunk of his $80,000 price tag as a yearling thanks to his seven
placings, and has now bumped up his stakes money past the $85,000 mark.
|