Fields Of Courage has provided Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson with their first win since joining together in a training partnership.
It took almost a month, but Mike Moroney and Glen Thompson have finally landed their first winner since joining forces in a training partnership.
Thompson joined the Moroney operation in a training partnership at the start of the season having worked with the Melbourne Cup winning trainer as his assistant for the past couple of years.
Prior to joining Moroney, Thompson had trained 15 winners in his own right, his most recent at Gosford in 2021.
Thompson was relieved to see Fields Of Courage take out the Sportsbet Photo Finish Refund Plate (1300m) at Sandown on Wednesday.
Ridden by Mark Zahra, Fields Of Courage ($6.50) ran down the $3.50 betting app favourite Athanatos to score by a length with Mollify ($21) a further two lengths away third.
Thompson said he expects Fields Of Courage to have a bright future despite the gelding having a delayed start to his racing career.
“He couldn’t have been more impressive,” Thompson said.
“It’s good to finally get him to the races as he’s always shown a fair bit at home.
“Mark has done a fair bit on him. He did his jump-outs last time in and again this time and he was really keen on him.
“It’s really good when you can get a good jockey on, and he gave him a gun ride.”
Thompson said immaturity had held Fields Of Courage back from making his debut as a three-year-old, while the one time he did make it to the races in a previous preparation he was scratched after kicking out in his race day stall.
“He’s a nice horse and we’ve taken our time with him and hopefully we reap the rewards from it,” Thompson said.
“He’s got no issues. We’ll see how he comes through today, but we don’t think there’s a reason why he can’t keep going.
“He’s definitely a horse with upside. It’s frustrating it took so long to get him to the races, but when they win like that, it’s all worth it.”