SWAN Hill trainer Nathan Hobson was back in the winners’ circle on Saturday when Brassi Road blitzed a big field to win the $27,000 Bi-Rite Electrical Maiden Plate over 1400m at Wangaratta.
After a pair of sixths at its first two starts, the three-year-old gelding looked a world-beater as it swept around the field to storm home.
Hobson must have had his heart in his mouth when jockey Ryan Hurdle looked headed for the carpark as the 14 horses swung out of the last turn and headed down the straight.
Hurdle didn’t just go wide; he must have covered an extra 100m or more as he set himself up for a charge down the outside.
But he clearly knew what he was doing, because once he popped the question Brassi Road absolutely lit up the track.
A delighted Hobson said Brassi Road had delivered on what he had been showing in training.
“He’s young and still learning, but after his first two starts – which weren’t far away – at Swan Hill and Donald I knew he just needed the penny to drop and it certainly did at Wangaratta,” Hobson said.
“He has shown us his genuine turn of foot in trials and he really put it together in this run.
“I bought him from the breeders and his sire Villermont is a relatively new stallion without that many runners yet.
“I had three to look at but for me this one really stood out.”
Hobson had been looking at a start in Mildura, but after this performance is planning to take his latest winner to town in a couple of weeks.
He said there were 1400m and 1700m opportunities at Flemington and he was confident his horse would handle the 300m step up.
Hurdle was making his first appearance for Hobson, earning the ride after doing some good trial work for the trainer at Bendigo.
“I was very impressed with the way he went to the line with Brassi Road and the way he judged the race, so I think we might be doing more things together going forward,” Hobson said.
Unfortunately Wangaratta ended on a frightening note when there was a fall later in the meeting.
Apprentice jockey Lauren Burke was taken to hospital with concussion after falling from the Dylan Dunn-trained Bella Nights in race 9, the 1300m 0-58 race, when her mount appeared to clip heels before falling in the home straight.
The Victorian Jockeys’ Association said it would issue further updates.
The final race of the meeting was abandoned by stewards after the replacement ambulance was delayed in reaching the track.
