Emerging three-year-old Said Com delivered on his promise when he beat a field of older horses at Rosehill on Saturday to make amends for his last-start defeat.
It was the first leg of a winning double for trainer Chris Waller and jockey Glyn Schofield with Mangaroa Flyer backing up from his third at Kembla Grange on Wednesday to score a determined victory.
Sent out the $2.20 favourite in the ATC Foundation Membership (1300m), Said Com eyeballed Romanus ($6.50) inside the final 100 metres before drawing away to win by a length.
Waller makes no secret of his admiration for the gelding who he hopes can measure up to Group One racing this autumn.
“He did what we hoped he would do,” Waller said.
“It’s never easy to beat the older horses.
“He’s still learning what it’s about but it was encouraging to see him settle today.
“I don’t want to get carried away but it would be nice to think he could get to a race like the Randwick Guineas.
“It’s easy to put opinions on horses but not so easy to live up to them.”
Said Com was the emergency for the race and gained a start on Saturday morning. He was also entered for a 1400m race against his own age.
Waller said he would look for a similar race for Said Com’s next start with a 1400m Benchmark 80 in two weeks the likely target.
“I’d rather not have to take on a race like the Hobartville yet,” he said.
“I’d rather win another of these types of races before we put him up to that grade.
“He hasn’t got a lot of condition on him so we’ll just see how far he goes.”
Mangaroa Flyer went to the starstable.com.au (2000m) as the $4 favourite and took up the lead from the outset.
Jimmy Fortunes ($26) tackled him in the straight but Mangaroa Flyer pulled out plenty to win by a half-length.
Hugh Bowman told Waller after Wednesday’s run that the horse’s third was not as bad as it looked, prompting the trainer to back him up.
Ironically the win, Schofield’s third of the day, put him on equal footing with Bowman in the Sydney premiership.