Winless in three starts, the Shooting To Win gelding Extra Time found the perfect spot to break his maiden in Saturday’s Group III National Stakes (1200m) at Morphettville and he did it in style.
Sent straight to the front by Jason Holder, the Leon Macdonald and Andrew Gluyas-trained gelding had the field off the bit and chasing as he cruised to the line to defeat the $1.7 million deep Impact colt Kazuhiko by three and a half lengths with the All Too Hard filly Hard Rock Girl a half-head back in third.
It was a fourth win in the race for Macdonald.
“The horse has been racing well without much luck. He ran around a bit again today but I think the blinkers made all the difference to him,” Macdonald said.
“He looked a bit too keen for me but by the time they got to the corner I had a look back through the field and there were a lot of horses under pressure.”
Purchased by his trainers for $140,000 out of the Armidale Stud draft at the 2019 Magic Millions Adelaide Yearling Sale, Extra Time is the first foal of the stakes-placed 7-time winner Gwynethanne (Handsome Ransom) who was purchased by Armidale Stud for $45,000 at the 2018 Inglis Great southern Sale. She was put back through the 2019 Inglis Chairman’s Sale with a cover by Impending.
A yearling colt by Alpine Eagle out of Gwynethanne was purchased by McEvoy Mitchell Racing/ Belmont Bloodstock out of the Oakford thoroughbred Farm draft at this year’s Inglis premier Yearling Sale.
Extra time becomes the second stakes-winner for Darley Stud’s Shooting To Win who stands at a fee of $16,500 in 2020.
