Patience is the key to lightly-raced four-year-old Single and trainer Craig Carmody won’t be tempted to change his routine to chase big prizes just yet.
Single notched his fifth win from nine starts when he burst through a gap late to claim Saturday’s North Ryde RSL Club Handicap (1800m) at Rosehill.
It was the gelding’s first start since he won a similar race five weeks earlier and Carmody said spacing his runs was the key.
“He will struggle over the next ten days,” Carmody said.
“It takes him a while to get over his races and we have to space his runs.
“This win will benefit him but I still think he’s six to twelve months away from being fully mature.”
Nathan Berry settled the $2.60 favourite back in the field and gave the trainer a few anxious moments when it appeared he would not be able to gain a run.
But the split came halfway down the straight and the Single sprinted to the line three-quarters of a length ahead of Maules Creek ($6.50) with another length to Permit ($11).
“I did have a some anxious moments,” Carmody said.
“He didn’t look very generous in there but it was encouraging to see what he did when he got through.
“We don’t have any big plans for him. We may have to raise the bar but we’ll just take it one race at a time.”
Berry gave an uncustomary fist pump as he went to the line and said it meant a lot to him to be able to ride a good horse.
“I know how hard it is in this game and it was only a Saturday race but I get get quite excited by it,” Berry said.
“Every winner in town means a fair bit to me.”
Nathan’s twin brother Tommy is a retained rider for Gai Waterhouse and has won the past two Magic Millions Classics.
For Nathan Berry, 2011 contained a series of suspensions for what he called silly errors and he has committed to eliminating those.