Orphaned at birth, then fostered through the critical early weeks of his life, the now spring 4YO NAVAL TRADER announced himself as a horse of promise at the Sunshine Coast Wednesday.
Ridden with initiative from a wide gate after beginning a little tardily, the big grey gelding sat on the speed in the run with jockey Ben Thompson mindful of giving the long striding son of MERCHANT NAVY plenty of room.
Bounding clear in the straight, he was much too good for his rivals in the 1400m BM65 event, prompting effusive praise from his rider.
“I’m sure we’re just scraping the surface with him. The most impressive part was that we took bad luck out of the equation today from a poor draw and up running second was foreign too him. No doubt he does enjoy chasing so to take the race by the scruff of the neck was a nice effort,” Thompson said.
Co trainer Matt Hoysted was also complimentary.
“If we manage him right, I think he’s going to go through his grades pretty quickly. In time I think he’ll get further but for now, he’s dynamic enough to remain effective at 1400m.”
A $120k Easter yearling from Fernrigg Farm’s draft, NAVAL TRADER was given plenty of time to develop after showing numerous signs of immaturity early in his career. How much that could be contributed to his less than ideal start in life, is a moot point but he’s putting together a most consistent record that now reads five starts for two wins and three placings.
Only the second victory of the season for the PROVEN colours, it marks the beginning of a busy week for the O’Dea/Hoysted/Proven combination. See all the details of the half dozen remaining runners HERE.