SWAN Hill’s Nathan Hobson is back in the winner’s circle with a bang.
After landing a home track win with It’s Maui’s Gold on March 17 he made the smart decision to take six-year-old gelding The Wayfarer to Horsham on Friday.
The perennial place-getter had just run a frustrating third at Swan Hill the same day as It’s Maui’s Gold got up.
It was a very short, five-day backup but Team Hobson reckoned it was worth the gamble.
And they were right. In a field which saw six of the 13 potential starters scratched, The Wayfarer ignored the odds and with Nyah West’s Madison Lloyd in the saddle skipped clear for a solid victory in the $27,000 BM58 handicap.
Post-race Hobson could see the funny side of how his horse earned itself two starts in five days.
“My track rider went and got married, so I was down a rider all week,” Hobson laughed.
“So I actually had Madison (who is now Ballarat based) for a few mornings this week, which has been great.
“For this horse, I thought he had been through a pretty easy week and the Swan Hill run didn’t take much out of him, and that was a good report to have.”
Hobson raced the horse for the first time in July last year only to see him finish last in a field of 10. A three-week freshener didn’t help, his next three starts saw a fifth his best result – in a field of six.
He said when he bought the horse last year he came to the Hobson stables in work “but was very disappointing”.
“So we had to put him in the paddock to give him a long spell and the chance to get over whatever was worrying him and start again – and this time he’s a different horse,” Hobson said.
“All we really did was give him that spell and the chance to get over whatever was worrying him.”
In four starts, since resuming after 22 weeks off, the gelding has picked up a second, a third and now a win.
It was Lloyd’s input during trackwork which made the decision easier.
“I rode him at trackwork after his Swan Hill run as I was doing a bit for Nathan and he came through that run in amazing shape,” Lloyd said.
“So I told Nathan he had come through the run really well, and he should go for the race at Horsham and expect to do very well.
“I have been helping out as he has quite a few horses in work at the moment for just one rider, so I thought I would help him out as he does a lot for me and has always supported me.”
Earlier in the meeting Swan Hill jockey Harry Coffey took out the $27,000 Happy 40th Gonzo Plate over 1200m on heavily backed debutant Dark Skies for the McEvoy stable.
