An astute piece of placement by the O’Dea-Hoysted stable helped SHOT OF WHISKEY find his way back to the winners’ stall at Toowoomba’s Saturday night meeting.
SHOT OF WHISKEY had contested much stronger races than the 1000m Class 1 Handicap and so was justifiably lumped with the 60kg topweight.
Despite the hefty impost and an alarming betting drift ($1.90-$2.90), the 3YO gelding was untroubled in a soft 2.5-length victory.
Leading from start to finish, SHOT OF WHISKEY and rider Justin Stanley were never threatened in the run home, recording the quickest final 600m of the meeting.
Great to see SHOT OF WHISKEY return with a confidence boosting win. Having previously contested much stronger races, the 3yo SPIRIT OF BOOM gelding recorded a soft victory under 60kg over the 1000m at Toowoomba. Thank you @ODeaHoysted & Justin Stanley. @WestburyStud @mmsnippets… pic.twitter.com/gN8EfTxd50
— PR🟢VEN Thoroughbreds (@ProvenTbreds) July 8, 2024
Co-trainer Matt Hoysted described the win as “confidence-boosting.”
“Really good to see him kick off his preparation in that fashion,” Hoysted said.
“The big improvement was his behaviour. Sometimes he can be a bit fiery and on-edge at the races, but he was really relaxed and conserved all his energy for the race.
“It wasn’t much more than a track gallop in the end so looking forward to getting him back into some higher-class races.”
An impressive winner on debut as a 2YO last season, SHOT OF WHISKEY had been winless in six subsequent starts, however most of those runs saw him clash with stakes performers like TIGER SHARK, TRIFLING and stablemate PARTY FOR TWO.
SHOT OF WHISKEY was a $150,000 yearling purchase from Westbury Stud’s draft at the 2022 Magic Millions Gold Coast Yearling Sale.
He becomes Proven’s 52nd winner for the season and 32nd for the calendar year.
