Stakes targets are in the offing for consistent gelding Maldini after he scored the biggest win of his career when taking out the Dunstan Horsefeeds Stayers’ Championship Final (2400m) at Ellerslie on Boxing Day.
From his ace barrier, Maldini settled three-back on the rail for apprentice jockey Sam McNab and the pair enjoyed an economical trip throughout.
Turning for home, much of the field elected to search for better footing towards the middle of the track, but McNab continued to hug the rail, which proved a decisive move, with Maldini quickly finding the lead, and he was able to build on his momentum, eventually running out a 2-1/2 length victor over He’s Classic.
Trainer Tony Pike has been in search of a win in the race for many years and he was delighted to tick it off the list on Friday.
“It is a race I have been trying to win for a while, we have got a few placings but never actually won it, so it was great to get that result today,” he said.
“He deserves this, he is not a big horse, and he has been really consistent right through this preparation. He just needs things to go his way with his size.
“He was given an absolute peach (of a ride) by Sam today, he never left the fence, and he has won really well.
“He is not an easy horse to ride, he can go quite keen. All the gaps opened up on the fence and he didn’t go too early either. It was a very patient ride and he is riding extremely well.
“I am rapt for the owners, they have been really patient with the horse, he has been frustrating and he hasn’t won out of turn. It was a great race for him to win today.”
Pike is now eyeing potential stakes targets with Maldini, with a likely return to Ellerslie next week to tackle black-type company for the first time in the Gr.3 Queen Elizabeth Cup (2400m) on New Year’s Day.
“He is in career best form,” Pike said. “He has been up a very long time but just whether we keep him going this preparation we will wait and see. Probably off a win like that we will have to look at a City of Auckland Cup (Queen Elizabeth).”
Bred by Westbury Stud principal Gerry Harvey, Maldini is by their resident stallion Tarzino and out of Testa Rossa mare Cristallo Rosso, a daughter of Group One winner Crystal Palace and a half-sister to Group One performer Palacio De Crista.
Offered through Westbury Stud’s 2021 New Zealand Bloodstock Book 1 Yearling Sale draft, he was purchased by bloodstock agent Phill Cataldo for $55,000, and he has gone on to win four of his 30 starts, and more than $167,000 in prizemoney. – LOVERACING.NZ News Desk
